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Lok Sabha to resume after ruckus over Naravane memoir | What was the row about
Lok Sabha saw interruptions on Monday as BJP leaders objected when LoP Rahul Gandhi quoted from former Indian Army chief General MM Naravane's unpublished book.
A day after continuous interruptions, adjournments and war of words over ex-Army chief MM Naravane's ‘memoir’ gripped the Lok Sabha, the Parliament's Lower House is set to resume on Tuesday. Now that the India-US trade deal has also been sealed, all eyes are set on how proceedings of the House will unfold in the day. Track Parliament updates
A chaotic scene erupted in the Lok Sabha when the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, referred to an unpublished book by former Indian Army chief General MM Naravane, HT reported earlier.
The disruption led to a halt in proceedings with Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh objecting to the mention of the book, and arguing that only formally published material could be quoted in the House.
The House was first adjourned till 3 pm, then 4 pm and subsequently was adjourned for the day.
About the Naravane row:
The mention of ex-army chief MM Naravane's book was made in the Lok Sabha when Rahul Gandhi sought to quote from his unpublished memoir on the 2020 India-China conflict to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh.
The move quickly led to a backlash from BJP leaders who accused Gandhi of misleading the Lok Sabha and belittling the armed forces.
Rahul Gandhi said that the government is ‘afraid’ of a line that he wanted to quote from Naravane's memoir, affirming that he would quote the same in the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP alleged that the leader undermined the dignity of the House and hurt the sentiment of Indian soldiers with his false allegations. Several BJP leaders demanded Gandhi to stop “speaking the language of anti-India elements”.
Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla, did not allow Gandhi to raise the issue. Following the ruckus, the House was adjourned twice and later for the day as heated exchanges took place between the members of the ruling and opposition parties.
What had happened?
As Rahul Gandhi rose to speak on the motion of thanks to the President's address, he said that he would want to respond to charges levelled against Congress by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on nationalism. After this, he moved to begin quoting from what he said was the "memoir" of Naravane talking about the India-China conflict of 2020.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh and home minister Amit Shah strongly objected to this and asked him to clarify whether the book had been published.
The ruckus continued for nearly 50 minutes with speaker Om Birla constantly saying that no book or newspaper clipping can be quoted on a matter not related to the proceedings of the House, and Gandhi insisting that the document was authenticated and he could quote from it.
As Rajnath Singh argued that the book had not been published, BJP leader Kiren Rijiju backed his opinion and called for the adherence of the Speaker's ruling.
Rijiju added that if the Leader of Opposition kept quoting the memoir, despite the Speaker's ruling, the House would have to discuss what action should be taken against such a member.
Rahul Gandhi was reading "concocted things" on China and there was ample material in the public domain on the decisions taken by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, on China, who alleged that he “surrendered thousands of acres of land just to further his own statesmanship,” news agency PTI reported citing government sources.
What did Rahul Gandhi say?
When the House reassembled at 4 pm, Rahul Gandhi said he was raising a matter of national security.
He claimed that he was not allowed to quote from Naravane's unpublished book because it indicts PM Modi and Rajnath Singh for "letting down" the army during the 2020 conflict with China.
“It is uncomfortable for the defence minister and the prime minister, I understand. I consider national security the most important issue. If it was not uncomfortable, they would have let me speak, but the fact that they are not allowing me to speak shows that they are uncomfortable,” Gandhi said.
“Naravane ji has written about the prime minister and Rajnath Singh ji clearly in his book, which has appeared in an article, and I am quoting from that article. They are scared because if it comes out, the reality of Narendra Modi ji and Rajnath Singh ji will be revealed. What happened to the 56-inch chest when China was before us and advancing?” he added.
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge backed Rahul Gandhi as he took to social media platform X to ask what was actually written in the former army chief's book that the key leaders of BJP were left rattled.
“What exactly is written in the former Army Chief's book that has the big-shot ministers of the Modi government so rattled? Who is stopping his book from being published? The entire country knows that the BJP's nationalism is fake!” Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
(with PTI inputs)
