‘PM Modi has sold the country’: Rahul Gandhi fires fresh salvo over India-US deal

The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice and later for the day as heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches over the India-US trade deal, mention of the 2020 India-China conflict and other issues, disrupted proceedings several times today.

A row had erupted in the Lok Sabha yesterday when Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to quote from an unpublished 'memoir' of former army chief General M.M. Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP members strongly opposed Rahul, accusing him of misleading the House.

Later, while speaking to mediapersons at the Parliament House complex, Rahul said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave in to pressure from the US to approve a new trade agreement and added that the deal has "sold out" the hard work of India's farmers. "Modi ji is rattled. The (US-India) trade deal, which was stalled for the past few months, was signed by Narendra Modi last night. There is extreme pressure on him. Narendra Modi ji's image can get damaged.

“The main thing is that our PM is compromised. The public needs to think about this. For the first time, the LoP was not allowed to speak on the President's speech. Narendra Modi ji has sold your hard work in this trade deal because he is compromised. He has sold the country. Narendra Modi ji is scared because those who shaped his image are now breaking this image. There is a case on (Gautam) Adani ji in the US, it is actually a case on Modi ji. The Epstein Files contain even more that the US has not yet released. There is pressure due to that as well. These are the two pressure points. The country should understand this," Rahul said.

Yesterday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla disallowed the Congress leader from raising the India-China conflict issue but he did not relent, with several opposition leaders rallying behind him. On Tuesday, as soon as Rahul was asked to speak on the Motion of Thanks, he cited the Speaker's ruling of Monday and authenticated the copy of the article which cited Naravane's unpublished 'memoir'.

To authenticate a document, a member has to submit a signed copy of it affirming that it is correct to the best of his knowledge.

Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was chairing the House asked him to table it and said "we will examine it and get back". As the protests continued, Tenneti adjourned the proceedings.

What is Rule 349?

Was Rahul within his rights to quote from Naravane's unpublished 'memoir'? Former Lok Sabha secretary general P.D.T Achary told PTI that Rule 349 bars members from reading from any book, newspaper or letter except in connection with the business of the House. However, the Rule does not elaborate about published or unpublished. Both Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah had argued in the House yesterday that the book was not published yet and hence, Rahul cannot quote it.

Speaker Birla cited Rule 349 to stop the Congress MP from quoting from the memoir. “Rules to be observed by members in House" falls under the rule, which has 23 sub clauses dealing with a variety of issues. Sub clause one deals with members quoting from documents. "Whilst the House is sitting, a member (i) shall not read any book, newspaper or letter except in connection with the business of the House," it reads.

"It also means that a member can refer to any of these if it is in connection with the business of the House," Achary told PTI. While the rule is "negatively framed", it has a "positive meaning" also which allows members to quote from document if they are relevant to the business of the House, he said.