No PM Modi speech in Lok Sabha after protests lead to adjournment

Proceedings in the Lok Sabha were adjourned for the day seconds after the House assembled for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.

The House descended into chaos as soon as the proceedings began at 5pm on Wednesday. Congress MPs entered the well of the House and the aisles, raising slogans over the suspension of eight MPs during the ongoing Budget Session.

Several women MPs from the opposition blocked the seats in the treasury bench, including the seat of the Prime Minister. They also displayed a large banner which read "Do what is right."

'PM Modi got scared'

While walking out of the Parliament, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra claimed that PM Modi did not arrive at the House because "he got scared."

"He (PM Modi) got scared and that's why he did not arrive at the house...Union Railway Minister and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey ran away like a bullet train," Priyanka said.

Rahul Gandhi also launched a broadside against the Prime Minister and said that he "doesn't want to face the truth."

"As I said, PM Modi won't come to Parliament because he's scared and doesn't want to face the truth," Rahul wrote in a social media post on X.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi said he would present Modi with General Naravane's book, claiming it reveals how political leadership left the Army to act alone during the 2020 standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.

In another post on X, he said the book was written by India's former Army Chief and not by any opposition leader or foreign author.

"Today, if the Prime Minister comes to Parliament, I will present him with a book. This book is not by any opposition leader. This book is not by any foreign author. This book is by the country's former Army Chief, General Naravane, and the surprising thing is that, according to the Cabinet Ministers, this book does not even exist," he wrote.

'Behaving like kids'

Meanwhile, the ruling side slammed the opposition MPs for not letting the House to function.

Union minister Giriraj Singh said, "This is unfortunate. This is the first time such a ruckus has been created during the President's address. They are behaving like children. What do they think? Do they think this is the Nehru family's kingdom, or the Congress party's office, or Sonia Gandhi's house?"

Union minister Chirag Paswan also criticised the opposition MPs for their conduct in the Lok Sabha and said that the chaos in the Parliament prevented any meaningful discussion.

"This is extremely unfortunate. The way the Opposition behaved during the President’s address prevented any meaningful discussion. Because of the Congress, even other Opposition parties were denied the opportunity to present their views. The President’s address is a platform to raise every issue. With elections due in several states, regional parties should have been allowed to speak," Chirag said.

The Lok Sabha has witnessed repeated showdowns between the opposition and the ruling party after Rahul Gandhi, in his address, raked up India-China border skirmishes during August 2020.

Rahul Gandhi, leading the Congress charge, raised the issue of ‘Chinese aggression’ during Galwan stand-off while citing 'uncomfortable facts' from the memoirs of former Army Chief Naravane, where he is understood to have written about 'political indecision' about response mechanism to the then Chinese misadventures.

This drew strong counter from Union ministers and also rejection from Speaker Birla, who rebuffed Rahul Gandhi's repeated reference to Galwan, on grounds of violation of Parliamentary norms.

On Tuesday, eight Congress MPs were suspended for the remainder of the Parliament session after ruckus erupted in the Parliament over Rahul Gandhi's address.