Rahul Gandhi meets Speaker with request to expunge remarks against him

Mr. Gandhi said he and his party wanted a discussion on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha starting December 13 and asserted they will ensure the House functions properly, even though it is not their responsibility

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday (December 11, 2024) and asked him to expunge derogatory comments made by BJP MPs against him, and ensure the House functions smoothly.

Mr. Gandhi said the BJP has been making "baseless" allegations against him to "distract" attention from the Adani issue, but he would not be provoked by any of these charges.

“I held a meeting with the Speaker. I told him that derogatory comments against me should be expunged. The Speaker said that he would look into it,” Mr. Gandhi said.

“Our aim is that the House must run and discussion should happen in the House. No matter what they say about me, we want that there should be a debate on 13th December,” Mr. Gandhi said.

“They don’t want a discussion on Adani. In the end, we will not leave this. They will keep levelling allegations on us but the House must function,” he added.

Read also: Parliament Winter Session Day 13 updates

Earlier in the day, Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi wrote to the Speaker, urging him to examine the party's complaint against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's "defamatory remarks" against Rahul Gandhi and remove them from the record.

Mr. Gogoi said after the Speaker's decision, the Congress party is keen to participate in the legislative business listed for the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.

Meanwhile, when Mr. Gandhi was asked about the BJP alleging links between the Congress leadership and U.S. billionaire investor George Soros, he said, "They will continue to make allegations, but whatever charges they make, we would want the House to function. Whatever charges they make against me, let them."

"Though it is not our responsibility to run the House, we will allow the House to function 100%," Mr. Gandhi added.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Gandhi and Congress MPs were joined by some other INDIA bloc MPs in greeting BJP members with placards and national flag, as they urged them to allow the House to function.

Rahul Gandhi also met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and sought to present the flag but Mr. Singh moved on after exchanging pleasantries.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published - December 11, 2024 05:28 pm IST