Rahul Gandhi protests 'selective expunction' of parts of his Monday speech

In his letter to Birla, Gandhi said while the Chair derives powers to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House but the stipulation is only those kinds of words

In a letter to Speaker Om Birla, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the “selective expunction” of portions of the speech he delivered on Monday defied logic, it was against the tenets of parliamentary democracy, and that his remarks should be restored.

In his letter, Gandhi said while the Chair has powers to expunge certain remarks from the records, the stipulation is that he can erase only those kinds of words, the natures of which have been specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha.

"I am, however, shocked to note the manner in which considerable portions of my speech have been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction," Gandhi, whose Monday’s speech was his first as the LoP in the Lok Sabha, said.

According to Supriya Shrinate, Congress’ social media department chairperson, the Chair expunged 13 portions of Gandhi’s speech, which included his criticisms of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s alleged divisive politics, the Agnipath scheme, demonetisation, goods and services tax (GST) and crony capitalism.

Gandhi said in his letter, "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 the ground reality and the factual position. 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.”

The Congress leader flagged the speech of BJP MP Anurag Thakur, who had opened the debate on Monday. Gandhi said Thakur’s speech was full of allegations but “surprisingly only one word (from his speech) has been expunged". "With due respect to your good self, this selective expunction defies logic. I request that the remarks expunged from the proceedings be restored," he said.

Talking to reporters outside Parliament complex, Gandhi said: "Truth can be expunged in the world of Modi ji, but in reality, truth cannot be wiped out." He said, "Whatever I had to say, I have said and that is the truth. They can expunge as much as they want, but the truth will prevail."

On Tuesday, Gandhi also wrote to PM Narendra Modi, requesting the government to facilitate a debate on the NEET issue in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. However, the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Tuesday evening, a day ahead of schedule, after the PM’s reply.

Over the past 24 hours, the Sangh Parivar and several Hindu religious leaders slammed Gandhi for his “anti-Hindu” speech, while Congress MPs and also INDIA bloc allies, such as Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Uddhav Thackeray, defended him.