BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s Excerpts On Gandhis Spark Priyanka’s Counter
New Delhi : The battle over books spilt onto the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, with controversial citations — both published and unpublished — triggering repeated disruptions, as the Opposition accused the Narendra Modi government of double standards after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey read out from controversial books like Edwina and Nehru targeting the Nehru-Gandhi family, even as Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was stopped from speaking.
Calling the functioning of Parliament heavily tilted in favour of the Narendra Modi government, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi hit out at Dubey after he cited excerpts from several books to read out damning passages accusing the Gandhi family — including India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi — of “aiyyashi, makkari and bhrashtachar” (debauchery, trickery, and corruption). Moments after the House reassembled at 2 pm, Dubey rose to speak, saying that since Rahul Gandhi had read out lines from an unpublished book, it was now his turn to expose the Gandhi family.
Citing Rule 349, which bars members from reading out from any book, newspaper, or letter except in connection with the business of the House, the Speaker said he could not allow it, as a ruling had already been given on the matter when Rahul Gandhi stood up in the Lok Sabha with former Army chief General Naravane’s unpublished memoir over the past two days. As Opposition members rose in unison to protest Dubey’s remarks, and he showed no signs of stopping, the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha till 5 pm.
On one hand, the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, is not allowed to quote from a book that has already been published in Parliament. On the other hand, Nishikant Dubey sits with six books, openly displays them, quotes from them, and yet his microphone is not switched off,” she added. Gandhi went on to claim that by preventing the Leader of the Opposition from citing General Naravane’s work, the Narendra Modi government was intent on silencing the entire Opposition and “the crores of people who voted for Opposition MPs.”
The battle lines are now drawn. After Rahul Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was compromised while attempting to cite from an unpublished book, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday hit back at the Congress, displaying a series of books which he said detailed decades of deception, betrayal, and corruption of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Dubey’s remarks led to the adjournment of the House ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, which was postponed at the last moment as the House resumed at 5 pm only to be adjourned for the day.
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