Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday asked Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, to follow the rules of procedure that members are expected to observe in order to uphold the dignity of the House.
Soon after, BJP leader Amit Malviya shared an old video of Rahul Gandhi, in which he can be seen touching his sister Priyanka Gandhi's cheeks in the Lok Sabha when the House was in order.
Sharing the video, Malviya launched a scathing attack against Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, stating, "It is disgraceful that the Lok Sabha Speaker has to remind Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, about basic parliamentary decorum. The fact that Congress has imposed this puerile man upon us is truly unfortunate."
The clip shared by Amit Malviya was captured during the proceedings of the House on March 18.
Earlier today, after the Speaker asked Rahul Gandhi to follow the rules, the Leader of the Opposition told the media outside Parliament that Birla had said something "unsubstantiated" about him.
"The Speaker just left and did not let me speak... he said something unsubstantiated about me... he adjourned the House, which was unnecessary... it is a convention that the LoP is given time to speak. Whenever I stand up, I am stopped from speaking... I did nothing; I was sitting quietly... here, there is no place for democracy... I wanted to speak on (Maha) Kumbh Mela, and I also wanted to speak on unemployment, but I wasn't allowed," the LoP in the Lok Sabha said.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram told news agency ANI that he was clueless about what triggered the Speaker. "I don't know what the provocation was, or why the Speaker had to say this... it reminds me of my headmaster in school... I felt like I was back in my school assembly... I don't know why the House was adjourned," Karti said.
