Days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's speech in Lok Sabha was expunged, the party MP Manickam Tagore has written to the Speaker, requesting that Direction 115(1) be invoked. In a video posted on X, Tagore said that he has written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against inaccurate statements by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leader. He has demanded action against the speeches of both leaders of the saffron party.
Earlier, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul, wrote to the Speaker, Om Birla, demanding to restore the expunged portions of his maiden speech as the Leader of the Opposition. He also accused the Speaker of carrying out “selective expunction”.
"I also wish to draw attention to the speech of Anurag Thakur, which was full of allegations, however, surprisingly only one word has been expunged! With due respect to your good self, this selective expunction defies logic," Rahul Gandhi wrote in the letter.
Rahul alleged that a considerable part of his speech was removed from the proceedings of the House under the garb of expunction.
The Rae Bareli MP also claimed the Speaker's action was against the Lok Sabha rules.
"I am enclosing relevant portions of uncorrected Debates of Lok Sabha dated 2 July. I am constrained to state that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380. What I sought to convey in the House is ground reality, the factual position. Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of the people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India. It is every member's right to raise people's concerns on the floor of the House," he added.
"I am enclosing relevant portions of uncorrected Debates of Lok Sabha dated 2 July. I am constrained to state that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380. What I sought to convey in the House is ground reality, the factual position," the Congress leader said.
"Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India. It is every member's right to raise people's concems (concerns) on the floor of the House," he further stated.
According to reports, several parts of the Rahul Gandhi speech, including his attacks on the BJP over the NEET row and the Agnipath scheme, were expunged from the records of the Parliament. According to the Hindustan Times, his remarks on Hinduism, which prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rare intervention, were also expunged.
(With input from agencies)