Union Parliamentary Affairs MinisterKiren Rijijuon Thursday, February 12, released a video clip that he claimed was recorded inside the chamber of Lok Sabha speakerOm Birlaby a Congress MP. The Lok Sabha has been witnessing disruptions since February 2, after Rahul Gandhi was disallowed by the chair from quoting from an article based on excerpts of former Army chief M M Naravane's unpublished memoir, which has references to the India-China conflict of 2020. On February 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, and it was passed on February 5 without the customary speech by the prime minister. Eight opposition members were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session for unruly behaviour in the House. Opposition parties on Tuesday put in motion the process to oust Birla as Lok Sabha speaker, alleging that he had acted in a "blatantly partisan" manner in the House and prompting him to step aside from chairing the proceedings till the matter is settled.

"This is the illegal video clip taken by a Congress MP when 20-25 Congress MPs entered the Chamber of Hon’ble Speaker, abused him and threatened Honb'le Prime Minister. Our party believes in debate & discussion and never encourage MPs to threaten physically," Rijiju said in a post on X. Reiterating earlier allegations, Rijiju accused Congress MPs of barging into the Speaker’s chamber, misbehaving with him and using abusive language.

Rijiju had earlier claimed that 20 to 25 Congress MPs had abused Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his chamber and they were not stopped by senior leaders K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who were present there. The parliamentary affairs minister said that Birla was very hurt. The Lok Sabha speaker is a very lenient, else he could have taken strong action, he said.

"Some members went to his chamber and abused (Birla). When 20-25 Congress MPs went to the speaker's chamber, I also went there. I just can't utter the kind of abuses they have hurled at the speaker," Rijiju told reporters in the Parliament House complex on Wednesday.

"They were encouraging (the Congress MPs). Had our MPs misbehaved with anyone, our leader would stop them. But their leaders were egging on the MPs to quarrel," he alleged. Rijiju claimed the Congress MPs did not obey even the Speaker's rulings. "Then Rahul Gandhi said he does not need anyone's permission to speak (in Lok Sabha). He will speak as he pleases, irrespective of rules. This is on record," the minister told reporters.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday termed as a "lie" Rijiju's charge that she was egging her party MPs when they allegedly "misbehaved" in Speaker Om Birla's chamber, and said "we did not abuse anyone". "We did not abuse anyone. One or two MPs were agitated, and they expressed it. He also said that I was encouraging them, which is a lie. I was sitting quietly. In the end, I said a few things peacefully to the Speaker," she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kiren Rijiju had shared a video of chaos that had broken out in the Parliament when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House.

"Congress Party is proud of the most degrading behaviour by their MPs !! If we had not stopped all BJP MPs and allowed the Women MPs to confront Cong. MPs, it would have led to very ugly scene. We have very high consideration, to protect the dignity & sanctity of the Parliament," Rijiju had said.

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Apoorva Shukla is a journalist at Times Now, where she thrives on dissecting political developments both at home and abroad. A graduate of Delhi Univ...View More

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