New Delhi: The Lok Sabha witnessed high drama on Wednesday as Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s remarks during a debate on the Anti-Paper Leak Bill sparked sharp protests from the treasury benches, forcing the Speaker to intervene.
This furore started because Gandhi had quoted his dialogue with an 18-year-old student in order to justify the agitations regarding the leaking of examination papers. Mentioning the different types of people according to the explanation of the student, Gandhi had used words like “idiot” and “andhbhakt”, which immediately led to the uproar of Treasury benches.
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Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had intervened in the speech saying that it is using unparliamentary language. When protests became intense, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had asked Gandhi to withdraw the offending term.
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh later on asked the Speaker to expunge the term “idiot” from the records of the House while also asking Treasury bench MPs to allow Gandhi to proceed with his speech. The Speaker accepted the request.
Gandhi, while defending himself, had said that he did not use the term against any Member of Parliament.
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In the course of his address, Gandhi accused the nation’s education system of having become quite costly and reported that students in India were demonstrating against the recurrence of paper leaks as well as problems in the exam procedure.
Calling the protests peaceful and hopeful, and not violent or aggressive, Gandhi also said that all political parties must pay attention to the voice of youth and admitted that even leaders of BJP would have understood sympathy from their own children towards the protesting students.
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Additionally, Gandhi accused the Home Minister of ordering police firing against the agitators and holding him accountable for the usage of force against the agitating people. However, the accusation received immediate objection from the Treasury benches.
In response to the accusation, Kiren Rijiju asked Gandhi to prove his statement and provide any proof or order issued by the Home Minister.