Women Opposition MPs Surrounded PM's Seat, Preventing Him From Speaking In Lok Sabha. Was It A Planned Conspiracy?

New Delhi: The pandemonium in Parliament continued for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, and reached its climax when Opposition MPs, mostly women, came forward and blocked seats from the treasury benches including the Prime Minister's chair, when the House resumed proceedings at 5 pm, shortly before PM Narendra Modi was expected to speak.

Visuals from inside the Lower House showed Opposition women MPs, including Varsha Gaikwad and Jyotimani, stepping inside the well and blocking the chairs of the seats of the ruling party. The MPs even crossed over the two barricades before the Speaker's Chair, and gheraoed the PM's seat. They were holding a large banner that read, “Do what is right” and were protesting over the suspension of eight Opposition MPs on Tuesday. 

Moments later, Sandhya Ray, who was at the Chair, adjourned the proceedings. The women MPs reportedly, ended their blockade only when several Ministers urged them to leave the treasury benches.

This blockade managed to effectively stall Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in the Lok Sabha. The Lower House adjourned at 5 pm.

The adjournment before PM Modi's reply to the Motion of Thanks for the President's address, came after two other adjournments on Tuesday over commotion in the Lower House. 

Following the ruckus in Parliament, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that it was a conspiracy hatched by the Opposition to block the Prime Minister, and the Opposition had deliberately selected women MPs for the blockade so that there can be false allegations of manhandling.

‘It is a conspiracy that has been hatched to block the honourable Prime Minister. Why only women?’ Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy, National Spokesperson, TDP remarked in a debate with Arnab Goswami on Republic TV.  

“What we have seen today in the parliament is unprecedented. You actually select a group of MPs on the basis of gender so that there can be an allegation of manhandling,” Nalin Kohli, National Spokesperson of the BJP said in the debate. 

As per latest reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, as per planned Business of the House. Sources suggest that the Prime Minister will be speaking at the Upper House at 5 pm on Thursday.

On Wednesday morning the House was adjourned twice, once over Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi's proposed speech on General Naravane's unpublished book and the second time when BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, in a throwback moment, attempted to read out a list of books that portray the Gandhi family in a poor light.

Nishikant Dubey Flashes Bofors Book in Parliament

Speaking at the Lower House, Nishikant Dubey listed several books and spoke about what they said regarding various members of the Gandhi family.

“I have also brought books written on Gandhi family... Here is the book on Edwina, Nehru. I have brought a book on Indira Gandhi. Along with it, The Red Sari, The Accidental Prime Minister, and Bofors Gate. These books expose the Gandhi family and its corruption scandals,” Dubey said.

The exchange was seen as a throwback moment for the BJP as Dubey attempted to read out portions from several books that the Congress might find unsettling, at a time when Rahul Gandhi seems to be hell-bent to speak about General Naravane's unpublished book in Parliament.

Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was the presiding officer at the time, objected to Dubey, saying that MPs cannot reat from any book, newspaper or letter which is not in connection with the business of the House. The House was adjourned till 5 pm. 

Earlier, proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm after Opposition members protested over the LoP not being allowed to quote from the unpublished memoir of former Army chief M M Naravane.

Quoting from Naravane's Memoir 

Rahul Gandhi had been attempting to quote from Naravane's memoir from Monday. He was first interrupted by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, following which Speaker Om Birla had ruled that quoting from an unpublished and unauthenticated source is not allowed in the House. 

On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from the memoir, the second time, this time getting his source authenticated. However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju interrupted him, saying that the Speaker had already given his ruling and he cannot quote from the memoir.

The House erupted into chaos, as Opposition MPs resorted to sloganeering and even tore up papers and threw them at the direction of the Chair. At this point, eight Opposition MPs were suspended from the House for the remainder of the Budget session. This prompted the LoP to write to the Speaker Om Birla saying that it is a “deliberate attempt” to prevent him from speaking as the LoP in the House on matters related to national security.

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