Budget Session Turmoil: Leader of Opposition Insists on Raising National Security Issue in Lok Sabha, Sparks Fierce Confrontation
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha witnessed intense chaos during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, as the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, remained firm on speaking about national security issues.
The situation escalated into a major political confrontation following his attempt to quote excerpts from the draft memoir of former Army Chief M.M. Naravane.
As soon as Rahul Gandhi began referring to the unpublished memoir, members of the ruling party, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, strongly objected. This led to sharp verbal exchanges between Treasury bench members and Congress MPs.
Due to the uproar, the proceedings of the House were adjourned twice and eventually suspended for the entire day.
Heated Exchange Over National Security Remarks
While initiating the debate on behalf of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi said he had not intended to raise the issue but was compelled to respond after a BJP MP questioned the Congress party’s patriotism.
He then began speaking about the Doklam standoff, citing references from the draft of former Army Chief Naravane’s book.
At this point, Rajnath Singh intervened, stating that since the book had not yet been published, Rahul Gandhi could not quote from it in Parliament.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also advised Rahul Gandhi to rely only on authenticated and officially available documents while speaking in the House.
In response, Rahul Gandhi displayed what he claimed were excerpts from the book and asserted that they were completely authentic.
The Defence Minister then questioned whether the book had indeed been published. Rahul Gandhi replied that the government was deliberately preventing its publication.
Amid the escalating argument, Amit Shah remarked that Rahul Gandhi himself had ended the issue by admitting that the book was unpublished, thereby making his reference invalid.
Repeated Disruptions Force Adjournment
The initial phase of the uproar lasted for around 44 minutes. At 2:08 pm, the Speaker adjourned the House till 3 pm.
When proceedings resumed in the afternoon, Rahul Gandhi once again began speaking on issues related to China. This prompted Rajnath Singh to accuse him of misleading the House and urged the Speaker to prevent him from continuing on that subject.
The renewed confrontation led to further disorder, ultimately resulting in the suspension of the day’s proceedings.
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