New Delhi: Soon after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla stated that he had advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to skip the session on February 5 as he had “concrete information” that some members of the Congress party were planning to carry out an “unforeseen act” against him, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra strongly denied the claims of any threats to him and said that these are “absolute lies”.
She also stated that the government was shielding the Prime Minister behind the speaker and asked why women MPs standing near the bench became an issue.
Modi was scheduled to give his customary reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address on Thursday.
The Speaker said that if such an incident had taken place, it would have been detrimental to the country’s democratic traditions.
Speaking to the media, the Kerala Wayanad MP said, “It is an absolute lie. There is no question of anybody raising hands on the prime minister, trying to hurt him or any such thing. There is no question. So it is absolutely wrong for anybody to say that there was any such plan, there was no such plan, there was no such plan.”
Priyanka Gandhi took a jibe at BJP Nishikant Dubey as he was allowed to take the context from the book and said, “But if you are going to allow your members to quote books, talk nonsense, the opposition benches are going to protest. I am sorry, the Prime Minister is hiding behind the speaker.”
They are making the speaker say all this because yesterday he did not have the guts to come in the House….because three women were standing before his bench, what nonsense is this,” the Congress leader said.
She also urged the media to ask the prime minister, Home Minister Amit Shah and the government why the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha was not allowed to speak.
“Have they any basis to stop him from quoting a public source,” she said.
Her remarks came after Birla, speaking after the House reassembled at 3 PM, after multiple adjournments due to protests, slammed the opposition members and said their conduct in the House on Wednesday was “like a black spot”.
Birla said, “With sadness I have to inform that some members displayed such behaviour in the House on Wednesday that had never been witnessed in its history.”
Birla said that the dignity of the chair has been established in the Constitution.
“Never in history have political differences been dragged to the House. The conduct of the opposition members in the office of the Speaker was not appropriate and in fact it was like a black spot,” Birla said.
“When the Leader of the House was to reply (to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address), I had concrete information that many members of the Congress party could carry out an unexpected act by reaching the spot where the prime minister sits,” he alleged.
“If this incident had taken place, this would have left the democratic traditions of the country in shreds. To avoid this, I requested the PM to not come to the House and as the Speaker it was my responsibility to uphold the dignity of the House,” Birla claimed.
He said unpleasent scenes were avoided because Modi did not come to the Lok Sabha on Thursday.