They sought time for Rahul Gandhi to speak in the Lok Sabha on March 21: Kharge
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will leave for Karnataka on Monday and address a public meeting in Belagavi in the afternoon. | Photo credit: PTI
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said a time is being sought for Rahul Gandhi to address the Lok Sabha on March 21 and if he is allowed, he will make his statement.
Mr Kharge also criticized the BJP-led government over a Delhi Police team arriving at Mr Gandhi’s residence on Sunday to question him about his “women are still being sexually assaulted” statement made during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“They are trying to divert attention from the issues that we have highlighted. It has been 46 days since the yatra was completed and now they are asking ‘who did you meet’. Thousands of people associated with the yatra and met him (Mr Gandhi) for five minutes and are asking for identification of people,” Mr Kharge told reporters here on Monday before leaving for Parliament.
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Mr Gandhi’s speech was delivered in Jammu and Kashmir and the police are inquiring about it here, the Congress chief said.
“This is an attempt to target and harass. They want to weaken us through intimidation, but we will not be intimidated and we will not be weakened,” Mr Kharge said.
Asked whether Mr Gandhi would address Parliament, he said: “We have asked for time tomorrow (Tuesday). If he allows, he (Rahul Gandhi) will speak in Parliament. That is what we have been trying to do.”
“That’s the problem, we are not even allowed to speak in a democracy, the microphones are turned off, and when we said it, they made accusations. You can see that one person wants to give his personal explanation and he is not given a chance,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi will leave for Karnataka on Monday and address a public meeting in Belagavi in the afternoon.
Mr. Kharge’s remarks come amid chaos in Parliament over Mr. Gandhi’s statements made during his recent trip to the United Kingdom, with both houses carrying out no significant transactions in the first five days of the second half of the budget session.
During his interactions in the UK, the Gandhi scion claimed that the structures of Indian democracy were under attack and that there was an “all-out assault” on the country’s institutions. He also told British MPs that microphones are often “cut off” in the Lok Sabha when an opposition member raises important questions.
Mr Gandhi’s remarks triggered political malaise, with the BJP accusing him of denigrating India on foreign soil and seeking foreign intervention, and the Congress hit back at the ruling party by citing instances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi elevating domestic politics abroad.
Published – 20 March 2023 15:09 IST