Citing NYT report, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accuses Congress of Chinese links; Lok Sabha adjourned to 2 pm | India News
On a day when Rahul Gandhi returned to the Lok Sabha as MP, the House witnessed unruly scenes with BJP leader Nishikant Dubey accusing the Congress of hobnobbing with anti-nationals and China for “dividing” the country and creating anarchy. Amid the din, the House was adjourned till 2 pm.
When the Lok Sabha met at noon, Congress MPs entered the House with Gandhi, shouting slogans including “Bharat Jodo Bharat Jodo” and “Rahul Gandhi Zindabad Zindabad”. Then Dubey stood up and alleged that an article in The New York Times has exposed the “tukde tukde gang” and “some media” which joined external forces to indulge in anti-India activities. He alleged that China was giving money to the Congress to oppose the Central government. According to Dubey, Congress leaders met the Chinese in 2016 to oppose the Narendra Modi government.
“They want to divide India through Chinese forces and some media,” Dubey shouted as BJP MPs thumped their desks in support. “Between 2005 and 2014, whenever there was a crisis, the Congress had received money from China. In 2008, they had invited both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In 2016, they were talking to the Chinese during the Doklam crisis,” the MP added. He also took the names of Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Randeep Surjewala. Dubey claimed that the NYT report explained how money was given to Maoists and journalists like Rohini Singh Swati Chaturvedi.
Although Kirit Solanki, who was in the Chair, tried to proceed with the business of the day, both sides shouted at each other. The House was then adjourned to 2 pm.
After the adjournment, Opposition MPs who gathered around Sonia Gandhi and Rahul were heard asking how Dubey’s mic was on throughout and that they should meet the Speaker to persuade him to remove his allegations from the records.
In a letter to the Speaker, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called Dubey’s allegations “libellous” and “defamatory”, and demanded that the BJP MP’s remarks be expunged from records.
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“When the Acting Chair was giving the floor to ministers to lay papers on the table, Shri Nishikant Dubey’s microphone was switched on. He proceeded to level libellous and defamatory charges against the Congress Party and Shri Rahul Gandhi, a member of the House, without having given any notice, let alone taken the permission of the Chair. His allegations were a flagrant violation of Rule 353 of the Rules of Procedure ad Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha,” Chowdhury wrote.
“We therefore demand, under Rule 350, that his remarks be expunged in full and that an inquiry be conducted into how such an allegation was permitted to be raised on the record,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi returned to the House when it resumed at noon after the adjournment in the morning. After entering, he took his seat and observed the proceedings. The Congress leader was disqualified as an MP on March 23 this year after he was convicted by a Gujarat court and sentenced to two years in jail in the Modi surname defamation case. On Monday his status as an MP was restored as the Supreme Court stayed his conviction last week.