New Delhi, Mar 11: Congress leader K C Venugopal on Wednesday alleged that Speaker Om Birla’s hands were “tied” by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, forcing him to act according to the ruling party’s wishes.
Participating in the debate on the resolution for the removal of Birla from the Speaker’s post, Venugopal criticised him for making allegations against the women MPs, stating that Birla claimed to have “concrete information” suggesting that some Congress MPs might carry out an “unexpected act” by approaching the spot where Modi sits.
“This was a very defamatory and most irresponsible statement,” Venugopal said, inviting sharp reactions from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Rijiju warned Venugopal to be cautious in making allegations against Birla since the Speaker was not present to defend himself or chair the proceedings.
“Nearly 25-30 MPs went to the Speaker’s chamber. I have never witnessed such misbehaviour from MPs in front of a Speaker throughout my long career in Parliament,” the minister claimed.
Rijiju added, “If footage of the CCTV camera is released, the whole world would be ashamed of the behaviour of your MPs.” The Congress leader argued that the Speaker’s explanation for the prime minister’s absence during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President was merely a “government-created escape route” to justify Modi’s absence from Parliament.
Venugopal alleged that the Speaker had repeatedly barred Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi from speaking whenever he stood up. Despite the convention that the Leader of Opposition is always allowed to speak, he claimed that, “Whenever an opposition MP raises a point of order, he is not allowed, but the ruling party member is always allowed.” In response, Dilip Saikia, who was in the chair, refuted Venugopal’s claim, stating that he had just allowed Gandhi to respond to a comment made by BJP member Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Venugopal also claimed that the Modi government has “completely surrendered” before America, the country’s economic integrity was “compromised”, and economic sovereignty was “surrendered”. He raised concerns about the recent announcement from the United States ‘allowing’ India to purchase Russian oil for 30 days, questioning, “Who is America to dictate what we should do with Russia?” “Isn’t it a surrender? The US is blackmailing India. The government did not utter a single word. This was the issue Rahul Gandhi wanted to raise, but the Speaker stopped him,” he said.
Additionally, Venugopal claimed that a minister in the Modi government was named in the “Epstein Files.” He stated that the no-confidence motion was introduced to protect the fundamental rights of MPs, even though the opposition knew the numbers were not in their favour.
“Personally, Om Birla may be ok. But his hands are tied. Every time something happens, the home minister jumps into his room,” he alleged.
Venugopal also took a dig at the ruling alliance members for praising Jawaharlal Nehru during the debate, pointing out that they had denounced him in the previous session.
“Just wait; one day you will praise Rahul Gandhi too,” he quipped, drawing a smile from Gandhi, who was sitting beside him. (PTI)
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