"Was not allowed to speak in House": LoP Rahul Gandhi questions Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla

New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, on Wednesday alleged that he was not allowed to speak in the House.

The LoP claimed that it was an "unsubstantiated remark" about him and that there is a convention that the Leader of Opposition is allowed to speak when he rises to do so. 

"I don't know what is going on...I requested him to let me speak...This is no way to run the House. Speaker just left and he did not let me speak...he said something unsubstantiated about me...he adjourned the House, there was no need...it is a convention, LoP is given time to speak. Whenever I stand up, I am stopped from speaking...I did nothing, I was quietly sitting," Rahul Gandhi told reporters. 

He said that in a democracy, there is a place for government and opposition, but here, "there is no place for opposition".

Rahul Gandhi said that he wanted to speak on the Maha Kumbh Mela and unemployment, but he was not allowed to speak. 

"Prime Minister ji spoke on Maha Kumbh and I also wanted to speak on (Maha) Kumbh Mela. I wanted to say that Kumbh Mela was very good. I also wanted to speak on unemployment but I wasn't allowed. I don't know what the approach and thinking of the Speaker are, but the truth is we were not allowed," he added.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked the Leader of Opposition to follow the rules of the House and maintain the conduct. 

"It is expected of you to uphold the high parameters of decorum and sanctity of the House. There are several incidents in my knowledge when MPs conduct was not in accordance with upholding the high parameters of decorum and sanctity of the House. Fathers, daughters, mothers, wife and husbands have been Members of this House. So, in this context, I expect the LoP to conduct as per the rules...It is especially expected of the LoP to maintain their conduct," the Lok Sabha Speaker said and adjourned the House. 

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that he didn't know what happened and what the provocation was that the Speaker adjourned the House.

"I don't know what happened and what the provocation was. I don't know what the provocation was, why Speaker had to say this...it remains 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," Chidambaram said. 

The second part of the budget session of Parliament began on March 10 and will continue till April 4. (ANI)