Tharoor slams govt for not allowing Rahul to speak
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi must be allowed to put forth his concerns in the Lok Sabha and described as "absolutely bizarre" the "denial of the right to speak to one side" in the House.
Tharoor, who was to initiate the discussion on the Union Budget, said yielded to Gandhi to make his remarks before his speech, but both his and the LoP's microphones were cut off.
The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram wondered what the Speaker and the government wanted.
"The situation is very strange. I don't know whether the Speaker or the government do not want the House to debate the Budget.
Very clearly, there is a long-standing tradition of the House, of more than 70 years, that when two people ask for the floor, it is always given -- first is the LoP and the other is the minister for Parliamentary Affairs," Tharoor told reporters in the Parliament House complex after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
"Now we have had two successive presiding officers who refused to let the LoP speak, whereas the minister for Parliamentary Affairs, whenever he raises his hand, is given the floor. That is not correct. You cannot favour the government side like this. The House belongs to all of us," the Congress leader said.
The government has the right to reply in due course and no one is going to prevent them from replying, he said.
