New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Speaker Om Birla, reminding him of the responsibility of being an “impartial custodian of the House” while accusing the latter of preventing him from speaking in Lok Sabha at the behest of the government.

In a letter addressed to Birla, Gandhi wrote, “For the first time in Parliamentary history, on the behest of the government, the Speaker has been forced to prevent the Leader of the Opposition from speaking on the President’s Address. This is a blot on our democracy, against which I record my strongest protest.”

He also justified his decision to raise the 2020 India-China military stand-off in Ladakh during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, claiming that national security was a key part of the President’s Address.

The LoP also highlighted impartiality as a virtue of a presiding officer of a House. “As the impartial custodian of the House, it is your Constitutional and Parliamentary responsibility to safeguard the rights of every Member, including those of the Opposition. The right of the Leader of the Opposition and of each Member to speak is integral to our democracy,” he wrote

His letter came on a day when chaos consumed Lok Sabha proceedings and over half a dozen Opposition MPs were suspended for disrupting proceedings and throwing papers towards the Chair.

The ruckus followed Gandhi’s unsuccessful attempt to read out excerpts from ex-Army chief General M.M. Naravane’s unpublished book, including sections about the 2020 India-China military stand-off in Ladakh.

In his letter to the Speaker, Gandhi said, “Yesterday, while speaking on the Motion on the President’s Address, you directed me to authenticate a magazine that I intended to refer to. I authenticated the document while resuming my speech today.”

“By long-standing convention, including repeated rulings of past Speakers, a Member who wishes to refer to a document in the House is required to authenticate it and affirm responsibility for its contents. Once this requirement is fulfilled, the Speaker allows the Member to quote or refer to the document. Thereafter, it becomes the responsibility of the government to respond, and the role of the Chair stands concluded,” he said.

“Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha today not only violates this convention, but also gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security. It is worth repeating that national security was a key part of the President’s Address, which requires a discussion in Parliament,” he added.

–IANS

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