Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday shot off a letter to Speaker Om Birla regarding the expunction of portions of his speech, asserting that the action undermines the principles of parliamentary democracy.
Rahul Gandhi in the letter demanded that the latter restore the expunged portions of his maiden speech during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address on July 1.
He wrote, “I am shocked to note the manner in which a considerable portion of my speech has been simply removed from the proceedings under the guise of expunction. Removing my considered remarks from the records goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy.”
“While I Chair dereives powers to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House but the stipulation is only those kind of words, the nature of which have been specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha,” he further wrote in the letter.
Gandhi expressed shock in the manner a portion of his speech was taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction.
“It is every member's right to raise people 's concerns on the floor of the House. It is that right and in exercise of my obligations to the people of the country, that I was exercising yesterday,” he added.
Furthermore, Gandhi further invoked other proceedings in the house, pointing out Anurag Thakur's speech, which saw one word expunged.
"In this context, I also wish to draw attention to the speech of Anurag Thakur, whose speech was full of allegations, yet surprisingly only one word has been expunged. With due respect, this selective expunction defies logic," Gandhi wrote.
