Blot on democracy: LoP Rahul lodges protest with Lok Sabha Speaker for not being allowed to speak
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, lodging his strong protest over being disallowed to speak in the House on a matter of national security and terming it a "blot on our democracy".
In his letter to Birla, he alleged that the Speaker acted at the "behest" of the government and was forced not to allow him to speak, and said preventing the Leader of Opposition from exercising his right to speak in the House was against Parliamentary practices and convention.
The Congress leader noted that while speaking on the Motion on the President's address on Monday, the Speaker had directed him to authenticate a magazine which he intended to refer to while raising the India-China conflict of 2020.
He said that as per long-standing convention, including repeated rulings of past Speakers, a member wishing to refer to a document in the House is required to authenticate it and affirm responsibility for its contents, which he did.
Thereafter, he said, the Speaker allows the member to quote or refer to the document and it becomes the responsibility of the government to respond, and the role of the Chair stands concluded.
"Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha today not only violates this convention, but also gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security.
"It is worth repeating that national security was a key part of the President's Address, which requires a discussion in Parliament," Gandhi told Birla in his letter.
He said as an impartial custodian of the House, it is the Speaker's Constitutional and Parliamentary responsibility to safeguard the rights of every member, including those of the opposition.
The right of the Leader of the Opposition and of each Member to speak is integral to our democracy, he noted.
"The refusal of these basic democratic rights has led to an unprecedented situation. For the first time in Parliamentary history, on the behest of the government, the Speaker has been forced to prevent the Leader of the Opposition from speaking on the President's Address," the Congress leader said in his letter.
"This is a blot on our democracy, against which I record my strongest protest," he said.
The government-opposition faceoff in the Lok Sabha intensified on Tuesday as eight protesting MPs were suspended for "unruly behaviour" after Rahul Gandhi was disallowed for the second day from quoting an article that cited an unpublished "memoir" of former Army chief M M Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict.
Gandhi had authenticated a copy of the article in the Lok Sabha, but it failed to end the impasse over the matter.
The seven MPs from the Congress and one from the CPI (M) were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session, which ends on April 2, for trying to climb on the table of the secretary general, tearing papers and hurling them at the Chair.
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Hospital wall collapse: CM orders suspension of executive engineer; kin of victims get solatium
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the immediate suspension of an executive engineer for the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital wall collapse that claimed the lives of seven people, during a high-level review meeting at Vidhana Soudha.
A compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as announced by the CM Siddaramaiah, was distributed to the families of seven victims who lost their lives in the tragedy on Wednesday evening, which occurred due to heavy downpour with gusty winds and hailstorm.
The meeting of municipal commissioners of the five corporations, chaired by the chief minister and attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, focused on fixing accountability and examining lapses that led to the tragedy.
"Why was soil dumped in a way that damaged the wall? Why did you not monitor this?" Siddaramaiah asked, pulling up hospital authorities during the meeting.
A statement from the chief minister's office said that the CM ordered the immediate suspension of the executive engineer of the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project (KHSDP).
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He also questioned the hospital authorities, asking why they failed to monitor the dumping of soil that weakened the structure.
The chief minister directed that a notice be issued to the head of the Hospital.
During the meeting, Siddaramaiah said the rains had caused extensive damage in the city, with over 250 trees uprooted.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to take necessary measures before the onset of the monsoon to avoid untoward incidents.
Commissioners of all five municipal zones in Bengaluru have been asked to take precautionary steps, including trimming dry and dangerous tree branches, the CMO said.
Siddaramaiah also directed them to get the silt cleared from stormwater drains to prevent flooding, and that immediate action be taken to remove debris and fallen branches from roads.
Further, he instructed that barricades be placed at underpasses where water stagnates and restricts public movement.
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said in a statement that Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad distributed compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased on Thursday.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed amid heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
Police said the victims, comprising three from Bengaluru, two from Kerala on a study tour and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Assam, had taken shelter near the wall when it suddenly gave way, trapping them under the debris.
The chief minister questioned officials over the dumping of soil near the wall despite knowing it could weaken the structure, and directed that a notice be issued to the head of Bowring Hospital.
Siddaramaiah, who had visited the spot soon after the incident along with senior officials, reviewed the situation and ordered a detailed probe into the collapse.
