New Delhi, Feb 3 (UNI) In a strongly worded letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has lodged a formal protest alleging that his democratic right to raise a matter of national security in Parliament was unjustly denied during the ongoing Budget Session.
Gandhi’s communication — written after repeated disruptions in the Lok Sabha while he sought to speak on sensitive defence and security matters — accuses the Chair and ruling party members of preventing him from fulfilling his parliamentary duties. His letter comes amid sharp exchanges in the lower house over his attempts to cite excerpts from the unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General M M Naravane on the 2020 India–China border standoff, which the treasury benches argued violated House rules.
In his letter Gandhi underscored that he was not being permitted to speak on what he contended were serious national security concerns, despite raising them during the discussion on the President’s Address. He argued that the Speaker’s refusal to allow his references — including points he said were authenticated and relevant to India’s defence and strategic posture — effectively stifled legitimate parliamentary debate.
“I have been denied my right to raise issues of national security even when they form a core part of the President’s Address,” Gandhi wrote, asserting that his interventions were within parliamentary procedures and should have been heard. He accused the Chair of applying rules selectively and asked Birla to intervene to ensure that the voice of the Opposition and elected MPs is not muzzled when debating matters of national importance.
The Lok Sabha session has been witnessing frequent adjournments since Monday following Gandhi’s insistence on introducing material from external sources to highlight alleged lapses in national security and foreign policy. Government leaders, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, objected in the House, arguing that Gandhi’s references were based on unpublished materials and could not be used in proceedings without appropriate verification.
Inside Parliament, Gandhi pressed that his remarks were anchored in public interest and within the scope of the President’s Address, especially regarding India’s strategic challenges with neighbouring nations. “All I am saying is let me make a statement about what happened between China and India and how our Prime Minister reacted to it,” he told reporters after being repeatedly interrupted, stressing that he had authenticated the article he sought to quote.
The letter also points out Gandhi’s objection to procedural objections raised by the Speaker and government members who cited parliamentary rules such as Rule 349 — which restricts quoting from materials not properly authenticated or published — in denying Gandhi’s attempts to elaborate on his points. Government supporters in the House argued that adherence to such rules was necessary to maintain parliamentary order and protect institutional integrity.
The developments have fuelled wider political debate over parliamentary rights, procedural interpretations and the balance between parliamentary discipline and robust democratic discourse.
