New Delhi, February 5: The Congress party maintained its aggressive stance in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, asserting that preventing opposition members from allowing the leader of the house to respond to a motion of thanks is not a novel occurrence.
Congress MP and party communication in-charge General Secretary Jairam Ramesh shared an old video clip of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, in which he recounts being interrupted while responding to a motion of thanks on June 10, 2004.
Ramesh posted on social media, “This is a video from Dr. Manmohan Singh’s speech on March 10, 2005, where he mentions being stopped from responding to a motion of thanks on June 10, 2004.”
In reference to the current deadlock in the Lok Sabha, Ramesh reminded, “To recall, on June 10, 2004, the BJP prevented the Prime Minister from speaking on the motion of thanks to the President’s address.”
His comments came on a day when the Lok Sabha passed the motion of thanks to the President’s address without a formal reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid continuous shouting from opposition MPs.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi‘s scheduled speech at 5 PM was postponed due to persistent disruptions and loud protests from opposition members, leading to the Lok Sabha being adjourned until Thursday morning.
For the past two days, opposition members have clashed with the ruling party over the denial of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi‘s speech, citing excerpts from unpublished memoirs of former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane.
The Leader of the Opposition (LOP) had previously claimed that the book mentions Prime Minister Modi and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
In response, the ruling party strongly opposed these claims, demanding that LOP Gandhi adhere to parliamentary rules and present only ‘authentic sources’ within the house.