New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Thursday that he sought time from Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to reply to allegations about his UK comments in Parliament but was only met with a smile.
Rahul, who made his first public appearance Thursday since his tour of the UK, spent about half an hour in Parliament as both Houses remained adjourned.
Since the beginning of the session Monday, BJP ministers and MPs have demanded that he apologise for his “Indian democracy in danger” comments made during the UK trip.
Rahul said: “Four ministers have made allegations against me in the Parliament House. As an MP, it is my right to be allowed to speak on the floor of the House. He (Speaker) was non-committal. In his own way, he smiled.”
Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, Rahul added: “There’s no clarity but I don’t think they’ll let me speak. I’m hopeful that they’ll let me speak tomorrow. Today, within one minute of me coming in, the House was adjourned.”
He, however, refused to speak more about his comments in the UK or whether he would apologise in the House. He said as an MP, he’d first like to talk about it in the House. He also said the allegations against him were being made to distract from the Gautam Adani issue and whether or not he can speak will be a “test of Indian democracy”.
“If Indian democracy was functioning, I would be able to say my piece in the Parliament. What you are seeing is a test of Indian democracy. After four ministers from the BJP have made an allegation about an MP, is that MP going to be given the same space that those four ministers were given? Or is he going to be told to shut up. That’s the real question in front of this country now,” Rahul said.
He also said: “The story started when I made my speech in Parliament about Mr Adani. I asked some fundamental questions to the PM about his relationship with Mr Adani. How has Mr Adani been given pretty much the entire Israel-India defence relationship? How has he been given Bombay and other airports? Rules have been changed to allow him to be given these things. What happened in Australia between the PM, Adani and the Chairman of the State Bank of India? It’s a picture that is visible to everybody. Why is the PM of India sitting with the Chairman, Mr Adani and an Australian leader? What is he discussing? Why after that discussion almost a billion dollars is pledged by the SBI to Mr Adani? What was going on in Sri Lanka? Why has a person said that Mr Rajapaksa gave Adani the contract and it was basically Mr Modi who told him to. What happened in Bangladesh? These are relevant questions.”
“The whole idea is that these questions will not be answered. That’s why this whole exercise of 4-5 ministers and the PM giving a speech to distract from this fundamental question. And more importantly, whose money is in these shell companies?” he asked.
Also read: ‘If they allow me, will say what I think:’ Rahul Gandhi on BJP demand for apology