Rahul Gandhi snaps at reporters outside; Rijiju questions his stance

NEW DELHI: A political row erupted in Parliament on Thursday after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi snapped at journalists over questions on a possible privilege motion against him, triggering criticism from the BJP.The confrontation comes amid heightened tensions during the ongoing Budget session, following Rahul’s attack on the Modi government in the Lok Sabha a day earlier.

Rahul questions media over ‘code word’

As he walked towards his car outside the Parliament complex, Rahul Gandhi was surrounded by reporters who sought his response to reports that the ruling party could move a privilege motion against him.Visibly upset, he shot back, “Is privilege the key word for today? Have you been given this word for today?”Referring to questions raised a day earlier, he added, “Yesterday the word was authentication, today it is privilege. You should try to do some objective stuff. You are not totally employed by the BJP; it gets really shameful.”He further told the journalists, “You are responsible people, you have media people, you have a responsibility to stay objective. You are doing a disservice to this nation. Are you not able to recognize that?”

Row over remarks in Lok Sabha

The exchange follows a stormy session in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, when Rahul Gandhi launched a strong attack on the government, accusing it of “surrendering” India and its people before foreign powers and of “selling the Bharat Mata”.His remarks drew loud protests from treasury bench members, who termed his language “unparliamentary” and demanded that portions of his speech be expunged from the record.BJP lawmakers later said that a privilege motion would be brought against the Leader of Opposition for allegedly “misleading” the House with “baseless and malicious” claims.The Congress defended Rahul, saying he had not violated any parliamentary norms and was within his rights to criticise the government and the Prime Minister over what it described as “capitulating and surrendering” India’s energy and farmers’ interests in the India-US trade deal.

Rijiju accuses Rahul of avoiding questions

Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju criticised Rahul Gandhi’s remarks against the media, saying the Opposition leader was unwilling to answer questions.“This is wrong. If he interrupts and scolds the media, then who will ask the questions? Have we ever stopped the media from asking questions? While we were in the Opposition, we never said anything to the media naming Congress. He must have said all this because he doesn’t want to answer the media,” Rijiju said, as quoted by news agency ANI.He added that he had spoken to several Congress MPs and asked them to advise Rahul to adhere to House rules.“I have asked many Congress MPs to make Rahul Gandhi understand that notices can be moved against him if he speaks in contravention of the rules,” Rijiju said.

Video controversy over Speaker’s chamber

Rijiju also shared a video on his X handle, which he claimed was “illegally taken by a Congress MP”. According to him, the footage showed 20–25 Congress MPs entering Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s chamber, verbally abusing him and threatening Prime Minister Narendra Modi.In his post accompanying the video, Rijiju wrote, “Our party believes in debate & discussion and never encourage MPs to threaten physically.”He alleged that senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K C Venugopal, were present in the chamber and did not stop other MPs.

“They (the Congress MPs) were egging them on. Had our MPs misbehaved with anyone, our leader would stop them. But their (Congress’) leaders were egging on the MPs to quarrel,” Rijiju had said earlier.The incident reportedly took place last week when Opposition MPs went to the Speaker’s chamber to protest against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s remarks about former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

Priyanka Gandhi rejects allegations

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra strongly denied Rijiju’s claims, calling them “a lie”.“We did not abuse anyone. One or two MPs were agitated, and they expressed it. He also said that I was encouraging them, which is a lie. I was sitting quietly. In the end, I said a few things peacefully to the Speaker,” she told reporters in the Parliament House complex.She rejected the charge that she had encouraged colleagues during the confrontation, insisting that no abuse took place and that she spoke calmly at the end.