Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju alleged that more than 20 Congress MPs entered Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s chamber during the recent face-off between the Opposition and the government in Parliament and abused and threatened him.
In a post on X, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju shared a purported video showing Congress MPs inside the Speaker’s chamber. He condemned the actions of the Congress MPs and said that the BJP believes in debate and discussion and never encourages its MPs to resort to physical threats.
The purported video shows several Congress MPs inside the Speaker’s chamber while the Speaker sits in his chair and engages in a heated exchange with individuals present in the room.
“This is the illegal video clip taken by a Congress MP when 20–25 Congress MPs entered the Chamber of the Hon’ble Speaker, abused him and threatened the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Our party believes in debate and discussion and never encourages MPs to threaten anyone physically,” Rijiju said in a post on X.
The incident reportedly occurred last week after uproar in the Lok Sabha when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not permitted to cite passages from an unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane concerning the 2020 India-China border standoff.
Rijiju further alleged that senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal, were also present inside the chamber. He claimed that although they did not personally abuse the Speaker, they allowed other Congress MPs to threaten and verbally attack him. He also alleged that the senior leaders were encouraging the protesting MPs.
“At least 20-25 Congress MPs entered the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chamber and abused him. I was also there. The Speaker is a very soft person, otherwise strict actions would have been taken. Senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal, were also present inside, and they were encouraging them to fight,” Rijiju said.
The allegations come at a time when tensions between the government and the Opposition have intensified in Parliament. The confrontation escalated after Rahul Gandhi was reportedly prevented from citing excerpts from former Army Chief General MM Naravane’s book last week, followed by his criticism of the BJP and the Prime Minister over the proposed India-US trade deal.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties have formally moved a notice seeking the removal of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. They have accused him of functioning in a partisan manner and have urged that he refrain from presiding over the House until the matter is addressed.
