New Delhi, March 11 Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a scathing attack at Congress and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, questioning his ‘seriousness’ and ‘authenticity’ of claims that his voice is muzzled inside the House.
HM Shah counted numerous instances from the past, when the noted Congress leader was found wanting because of his frequent foreign visits and also disinclination to participate in key debates, ranging from Vande Mataram to the land acquisition bill and more.
“The LoP claims that he is not allowed to speak in the House, but I want to say that he doesn’t want to speak,” Amit Shah said in a forceful counter to Congress’s charges.
Responding to KC Venugopal’s charge that the Leader of Opposition was interrupted a dozen times by the Speaker, he asked, “When the errant leader doesn’t listen, what do you think the Speaker should do?”
Shah asserted that Rahul Gandhi’s attendance in the 17th Lok Sabha was 51 per cent against the national average of 67 per cent. In the 16th Lok Sabha, his attendance was 52 per cent against the national average of 80 per cent.
“In the 15th Lok Sabha, his attendance was 43 per cent while the national average was 76 per cent,” he added.
Shah said that the Congress MP did not take part in most debates, including the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, discussion on the budget, and Bills and did not even take part in discussions on the most important bills.
He also tore into Rahul over repeated foreign visits and stated that the Congress MP chooses to go abroad when the House is in session.
“When Parliament sessions are underway, he plans foreign trips. How can he speak here from abroad? There is no provision for video conference,” Shah added.
Amit Shah also made references to Rahul’s ‘hug and wink’ antics inside the Parliament, wondering how any member could adhere to such stunts and still claim the moral high ground.
The Congress-led Opposition, furious over HM Shah’s repeated references to LoP Rahul’s absence from the House, said that the debate was on Speaker’s ‘biased and partisan’ behaviour and not on the former’s conduct and demanded an intervention from the Chair.
As the Home Minister kept the heat on, the House erupted in intense chaos and pandemonium, with Opposition members resorting to intense sloganeering in the House.
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