Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Congress neta Rahul Gandhi Wednesday alleged “PM Narendra Modi is compromised”, saying he was stopped from speaking during the motion of thanks debate because he wanted to raise issues critical to the people. This was the first time a leader of opposition was thwarted from addressing Lok Sabha, Rahul claimed.Rahul, along with MP KC Venugopal, touched upon several controversial issues that dominated the first half of the Budget session and led to the opposition moving a notice to remove Speaker Om Birla.In brief remarks, Rahul said, “Last time (Feb 2-3), I raised the issue of the PM being compromised, of former Army chief MM Naravane, Epstein, Adani. I was silenced. These issues are fundamental to the people of India. Our PM has been compromised. Everybody knows the result of the compromise.” He said he has been stopped multiple times from speaking.Rahul intervened as BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke critically about him in Lok Sabha, complaining that “vile” things were being said about him by BJP members.Leading the opposition’s charge, Venugopal targeted Birla and the PM’s failure to come to the House to reply to the motion of thanks to the President’s address on Feb 4. He alleged Modi did not want to come to Lok Sabha and the govt used the speaker to create an escape route – referring to Birla’s statement that he had asked the PM to stay away because Congress women MPs were blocking his seat and “some bad thing” might happen. “It was the most irresponsible statement by Birla,” he said.Venugopal asked why Modi was not defending Birla when former PMs Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi had spoken in debates involving removal notices against speakers.Slamming Prasad for ridiculing Rahul’s remarks, Venugopal recalled Modi’s controversial comment during the Balakot planning that “clouds” would help Indian planes avoid Pakistan’s radars. He alleged that when Chinese troops entered Indian territory, the PM’s response was “jo uchit samjho wo karo”, as purportedly claimed in an unpublished book by Naravane.He said Rahul was stopped from raising key issues, asking whether the US giving India 30-day permission to buy Russian oil amounts to “surrender of sovereignty”, and whether a cabinet minister’s name in the Epstein files should not be debated. Venugopal also alleged Rahul’s mic was often switched off and said LoPs earlier were allowed to intervene freely.
