Rahul Gandhi Writes Letter to Lok Sabha Speaker, Demands Restoration of Expunged Speech

Rahul Gandhi: The 18th Lok Sabha's first session has begun. Speaker Om Birla received a letter from Rahul Gandhi, the Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, protesting the remarks and passages that were taken out of his address. He's asked for the comments to be made again. It is important to remember that the BJP fiercely objected to Rahul Gandhi's "Hindu" declaration made during his address the day before, on July 1.

Appeal for Restoration

Rahul Gandhi wrote in letter that, " I am writing this in the context of remarks and portions expunged from my speech during discussion on Motion of Thanks on the President' Address on 1 July 2024. While I Chair dereives powers to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House but the stipulation is only those kind of words, the nature of which have been specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha."

He added, "I am, however, shocked to note the manner in which considerable portion of my speech have been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction." Gandhi wrote, "I am enclosing relevant portions of uncorrected Debates of Lok Sabha dated 2 July. I am constrained to state that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380. What I sought to convey in the House is ground reality, the factual position. Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India. It is every member's right to raise people 's concerns on the floor of the House."

Defense of Freedom of Speech

Rahul Gandhi added in letter, "I am enclosing relevant portions of uncorrected Debates of Lok Sabha dated 2 July. I am constrained to state that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380. What I sought to convey in the House is ground reality, the factual position. Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India. It is every member's right to raise people 's concerns on the floor of the House."

He wrote, "It is that right and in exercise of my obligations to the people of the country, that I was exercising yesterday. Taking off from records my considered remarks goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy. In this context I also wish to draw attention to speech of Shri Anurag Thakur whose speech 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."