New Delhi: Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Friday, raised objections to alleged removal of a large part of his speech from the House proceedings and demanded its restoration.
He termed this removal as against democracy and freedom of expression, adding that it is a matter of serious concern in the context of freedom of expression granted to MPs under Article 105(1) of the Constitution.
The opposition leader in the Upper House urged the Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan to reconsider the removed parts and restore them.
Kharge said that if not paid heed, he will be compelled to share the removed parts with the public.
According to the veteran Congress leader, a significant part of his speech delivered during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks over the President’s Address on February 4 was removed from the records of the Rajya Sabha without proper reason or justification.
He said that after reviewing the speech uploaded on the Rajya Sabha website, he found that the deleted passages were mainly related to his “fact-based remarks” on Parliamentary functioning, and criticism of some of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government’s policies.
The Congress President added it was his constitutional duty to criticise, as the Leader of the Opposition, if certain policies were adversely affecting the public.
He claimed that all his comments were within the ambit of the Motion of Thanks and were related to the topic of discussion.
Referring to his Parliamentary experience of more than five decades, the octogenarian leader said that he has always upheld the dignity of the House and its rules and the decorum of language.
There were no unparliamentary or derogatory words in the removed parts, nor was Rule 261 violated, Kharge added.
