‘First Time In History, Govt Is Disrupting Parliament’
Speaking to reporters after the House adjourned amid chaos triggered by remarks from BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra highlighted how the government was using procedural tactics to silence dissent
Congress MP and general-secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a fierce critique of the BJP-led government on Wednesday, accusing it of deliberately sabotaging Parliament’s operations. She claimed that the frequent disruptions in the Lok Sabha were orchestrated by the ruling party to evade scrutiny, not by the Opposition. Speaking to reporters after the House adjourned amid chaos triggered by remarks from BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, Priyanka highlighted how the government was using procedural tactics to silence dissent.
The uproar erupted during a debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, where Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi referenced “Four Stars of Destiny,” the memoir of former Army chief M.M. Naravane. BJP members protested, insisting the book was “unpublished” and thus ineligible for citation in Parliament. Priyanka dismissed this as a cynical ploy to muzzle Gandhi while allowing government MPs unchecked freedom. “When the government wants the House to be disrupted, he is made to stand up,” she said, pointing to Dubey. “This happens every day.”
She emphasized that the Opposition’s attempts to participate were systematically thwarted. “His Zero Hour always comes in the ballot. We keep requesting, but it does not come,” Priyanka alleged, arguing that speaking slots were allocated selectively to advance the government’s agenda. At the heart of the confrontation was the BJP’s objection to Gandhi’s reference, which Priyanka called disingenuous. “We request permission for the Leader of the Opposition to quote from a publicly published book that has been bought from Amazon,” she stated. “You say it is against the rules. And this person (Dubey) gets up, quotes from books, and his microphone remains on.”
Priyanka argued that this double standard exposed the government’s true intent: to dominate Parliament at all costs. “This is meant to show that only the government’s writ prevails in Parliament,” she declared. “This is an insult to the Speaker, to Parliament, to democracy, and to the people of this country.” As Dubey waved books and attacked the Gandhi family, Speaker Om Birla’s earlier ruling against such remarks was eventually enforced by Deputy Speaker Krishna Prasad Tenneti, but not before the session descended into disorder, leading to adjournment until 5:00 pm.
Rejecting claims that the Opposition was to blame for the disruptions, Priyanka insisted on their commitment to serious work. “We are not here to waste our time,” she said. “We are not here to create drama.” She underscored the gravity of the situation, noting, “We are here because the people of this country have given us their precious vote.” Turning her fire on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Priyanka drew a stark contrast with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “Indira Gandhi never stepped back from taking decisions,” she remarked. “She did not sit in a room and say, ‘I will not take a decision.’ She came forward, she took responsibility, and Pakistan was split into two. But the way Narendra Modi is functioning today, that is not how a country is run.”
Priyanka escalated her accusations, making a bold claim about the government’s role in parliamentary dysfunction. “This will be the first time in this country’s history that a government is disrupting the House,” she asserted. “A government (that) does not want Parliament to function.” She linked the controversy over Naravane’s memoir to broader issues of accountability, particularly regarding national security. The book reportedly details a delay of several hours during the 2020 Chinese incursion into Ladakh before the Army received orders to “do as you think best.” Priyanka suggested the government was uneasy about parliamentary scrutiny of this episode. “Every citizen of this country should understand this,” she urged. “This is a very serious matter.”
She also brushed off the BJP’s references to Congress-era leaders as mere diversion. “Again they bring up Jawaharlal Nehru — this obsession never ends,” Priyanka said, highlighting how such tactics deflected from current issues. Later, Congress MPs met Speaker Birla to protest what they saw as biased enforcement of rules. For the party, this incident exemplified a larger pattern: the government not only dominating Parliament but actively paralyzing it to shield its narrative from challenge.
In her remarks, Priyanka painted a picture of a government prioritizing control over democratic discourse. By engineering disruptions, she argued, the BJP was undermining the very institution meant to hold it accountable. This, she warned, eroded public trust and set a dangerous precedent for governance. As the session resumed later, the tensions underscored the deepening divide in India’s political landscape, where parliamentary proceedings increasingly resembled battlegrounds rather than forums for debate. Priyanka’s words resonated as a call to action, urging citizens to recognize the stakes in preserving democratic norms amid what she described as orchestrated chaos.
