Lok Sabha Disrupted Over Rahul Gandhi Quoting Naravane Memoir

A row erupted in the Lok Sabha on Monday after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to quote from the unpublished "memoir" of former Army chief Gen (retd) M M Naravane but Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with other BJP members, strongly opposed it and accused the Congress leader of "misleading" the House.

Gandhi said he would first like to answer the accusations made against the Congress on nationalism by the previous speaker, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, and he started quoting from what he claimed to be the "memoir" of Gen. Naravane as he stood to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the President's answer.

However, Singh strongly contested this and urged Gandhi to clarify whether the book had been published or not.

Gandhi insisted that the document was real and he could quote from it, while Speaker Om Birla continually insisted that no book or newspaper clipping could be quoted on an issue unrelated to the House's business. The commotion lasted for almost fifty minutes.

Rahul Gandhi was reading "concocted things" against China, according to government officials.

They added that there was so much in the public domain regarding what India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, did on China as he "surrendered thousands of acres of land just to further his own statesmanship." Gandhi said he never wanted to talk on the particular issue, but decided to do so after BJP's Surya questioned the patriotism of the Congress party. Singh maintained that the book had not been published.

Gandhi then said he was quoting from a magazine article to put forth his views.

The Speaker disallowed it, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju called for the Speaker's ruling to be adhered to.

Rijiju said if the leader of the opposition repeatedly ignores the Speaker's ruling and flouts rules, the House will have to discuss what action should be taken against such a member.

The minister said Gandhi was setting a wrong example for young MPs by not following the rules of the House.

With Gandhi unrelenting, the Speaker repeatedly warned him against quoting the book.

Singh immediately stood up and questioned why Naravane hadn't filed a lawsuit against the book if it wasn't permitted to be published as claimed. Gandhi was also charged with "misleading the House" by the military minister.

Akhilesh Yadav, the head of the Samajwadi Party, backed Gandhi and asked the Speaker to give the Congressman a chance to speak.

The Speaker adjourned the House till 3 p.m. due to the persistent opposition and Treasury MPs.

Gandhi was supported by a number of opposition politicians, including SP chairman Yadav, RJD's Manoj Jha, and TMC's Mahua Moitra and Kalyan Banerjee.