New Delhi: Clearing the air on why Narendra Modi didn’t reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s address, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Thursday said that he had urged the Prime Minister to skip his customary speech, fearing an ‘untoward’ incident that could have hurt the country’s democratic tradition.
The Lok Sabha passed the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address through a voice vote, with PM Modi not replying to the discussion.
The Lower House of Parliament has witnessed several adjournments, after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was unable to deliver his speech as he wanted to quote from the unpublished memoir of former Army chief General M.M. Naravane. Eight Opposition MPs were also suspended after protests escalated following comments by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
The Opposition claimed that the PM backed out from delivering his speech as he was “afraid”.
Before adjourning the proceedings for the day, the Lok Sabha Speaker said he had urged PM Modi not to come to the House over “definite information” that he had received regarding opposition members planning to conduct a protest in an unprecedented manner. The country, he said, saw what happened in the House on Wednesday.
“When the Leader of the House was to respond to the President’s address, I received credible information that several members of the Congress party might approach the Prime Minister’s seat and cause an untoward incident,” Birla said.
“If this incident had occurred, this extremely unpleasant spectacle would have shattered the country’s democratic traditions. To prevent this, I urged the Prime Minister not to come to the House. And as the Speaker of the House, it was my responsibility to uphold the high traditions and dignity of the House.”
Birla said it was not appropriate in any way for the Leader of the House not to speak in the House and by accepting his request and not being present, “the Leader of the House saved the House from this unpleasant situation”.
“I express my gratitude to the Honourable Prime Minister for accepting my suggestion,” he added.
Later, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Lok Sabha Speaker expressed his anguish. “In the history of the Indian Parliament, it has never happened before that the Prime Minister was forcibly prevented from speaking surrounded, and the Speaker had to tell him not to come. What the Opposition and the Congress members did, and what they want to achieve? Parliament is a place for debate; express your views within the limits of law,” he added.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said reports were being planted in the media claiming that the Congress party was planning to use women MPs to “attack” the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
“Is protest by a woman considered terrorism? Were the Modi government and their compliant journalists uncomfortable with a Dalit woman MP standing up? Do they consider them untouchable? The Modi government and its servile journalists should apologise to the women of the country, especially Dalit women.” he posted on X.
On Wednesday, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari claimed that a number of women MPs from the Opposition had entered the Well of the House and had moved towards the PM’s, while not paying heed to the repeated appeals by senior ministers to return to their seats.
“You will be shocked to see the pictures of what happened today… This situation shows that since the public is defeating them (Congress), they will not allow us (BJP) to speak in the Parliament,” he said. “The country has achieved such a great honour, yet they will not allow it to be celebrated, and they are doing all this to prevent Prime Minister Modi from speaking. The country is watching everything, and the country will demand an answer from the Congress.”
The opposition MPs were referring to a book that has not yet been published, unlike in the case of Nishikant Dubey, he added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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