Amid the political slugfest over Rahul Gandhi's maiden speech in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, several portions of his address have been expunged from the record.
These include portions targetting the NDA government, including minorities, NEET row and the Agnipath Scheme. Rahul's remarks on Hindus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-BJP-RSS and industrialists Adani and Ambani have also been expunged from the records.
Rahul Gandhi's speech which lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes also stoked controversy, wherein he took a dig at the BJP, stating those who call themselves Hindus are engaged in "violence and hate" round the clock. His remarks drew massive protests from the members of the treasury benches, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said "calling the entire Hindu community violent is a very serious charge."
#WATCH | On portions of his speech expunged, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi says, "In Modi ji's world, truth can be expunged. But in reality, the truth can't be expunged. I said what I had to say, that is the truth. They can expunge as much as they want. Truth is truth." pic.twitter.com/AcR3xRN6d5
— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2024
To the portions of his speech being expunged, Rahul Gandhi said "truth can't be expunged".
"In Modi ji's world, truth can be expunged. But in reality, the truth can't be expunged. I said what I had to say, that is the truth. They can expunge as much as they want. Truth is truth," he told reporters on Tuesday.
The Congress leader later wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla, requesting him to restore his remarks. The letter reads, "...Shocked to note the manner in which considerable portion of my speech have been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction. Taking off from records my considered remarks goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy," Rahul added.
He also cited BJP MP Anurag Thakur's speech, says it was full of allegations but surprisingly only one word was expunged.
Besides Rahul, parts of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's speech were also expunged. Kharge lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday for his poll speeches and also levelled allegations against the ruling BJP's ideological parent RSS.
During his speech in the Upper House of Parliament on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Kharge mentioned comments made by Modi in his election rallies and presented statistics showing the number of times the prime minister referred to minorities and Pakistan.
The Rajya Sabha chairman asked him to authenticate his assertions and refused to accept newspaper clippings that the Congress leader showed to buttress his points. Though Congress leader P Chidambaram asked Dhankar how an opposition MP could authenticate what Modi said other than by citing news reports, the Chair, however, did not accept the arguments and expunged the remarks made by Kharge from the records.' Dhankhar also defended the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), calling it an organisation engaged in working for the nation.
