New Delhi: For the first time in more than two decades, the Lok Sabha passed a resolution thanking President Droupadi Murmu for her address to a joint sitting of Parliament during the Budget Session, without a response from the Prime Minister to the Motion of Thanks.
As it turns out, it was Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla who advised Narendra Modi not to come to the House on Wednesday – another rare occurrence.
Why did Birla give such advice to Prime Minister?
The Speaker revealed on Thursday that he had received inputs that Congress MPs were planning an “unprecedented” disruption when Modi was scheduled to reply to the President’s Address.
“When the Prime Minister was supposed to respond to the President’s address in the House, I received information that several Congress MPs could have created an inappropriate incident near the Prime Minister’s chair. If such an incident had occurred, it would have torn apart the democratic traditions of the country. To prevent this, I requested the Prime Minister not to come to the House,” explained the LS Speaker.
There were chaotic and stormy scenes in Lok Sabha on Wednesday over multiple issues.
BJP MPs including senior ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah strongly opposed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on referring to an “unpublished” book by former Army chief MM Naravane.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey then sparked controversy by citing books such as Edwina and Nehru and The Mitrokhin Archive, and targeting former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
TDP MP Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the Chair, intervened by saying that the Speaker had already ruled against allowing such references.
Dubey’s remarks triggered protests from Congress and other Opposition MPs, who trooped into the Well of the House, forcing an adjournment till 5 pm.
Congress MPs met the Speaker, voicing their objections to the Chair allowing Dubey to quote from books while allegedly denying a similar opportunity to Rahul citing the same rule. They also demanded Dubey’s suspension.
When the House reassembled at 5 pm, the protests got even more vociferous, with female MPs from the Opposition, led by Congress’ Varsha Gaikwad, marching towards the Prime Minister’s seat in protest.
BJP MP Sandhya Rai, who was in the Chair at that time, adjourned the proceedings for the day.
