Rahul Gandhi writes letter to Om Birla expressing discontentment over parts of his speech being expunged

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s charged speech on July 1st during the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address resulted in diverse reactions from leaders across the political spectrum. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders claimed that portions of the speech labelled the Hindu community as violent, leaders of the Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) hailed it as a powerful attack on the ruling dispensation. 

It later came to notice that Speaker Om Birla has expunged portions of the speech that the BJP leaders had marked as offensive. “Chair derives powers to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House but the stipulation is only those kinds of words, the nature of which have been specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.I am, however, shocked to note the manner in which a considerable portion of my speech has been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction,” Rahul Gandhi’s letter to Om Birla stated. 

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi on a roll as he talks about Ayodhya, Agniveer and many important matters 

Rahul Gandhi had remarked that violence and falsehood under the garb of Hinduism was being spread. He later clarified that he was referring to BJP, PM Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and not the Hindu community in its entirety. “What I sought to convey in the House is ground reality, the factual position. It is every member's right to raise people's concerns on the floor of the House. Taking off from records my considered remarks goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy. I also wish to draw attention to the speech of Shri Anurag Thakur which was full of allegations, however, surprisingly only one word has been expunged! With due respect to your good self this selective expunction defies logic. I request that the remarks expunged from the proceedings be restored,” Rahul Gandhi’s letter added.