New Delhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met Speaker Om Birla and expressed his displeasure over the reference to Emergency by the Speaker and said it was "clearly political" and could have been avoided.
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal told reporters after the meeting at Parliament House that it was a courtesy call, during which Gandhi also raised the issue of the Speaker imposing emergency in the House.
"It was a courtesy call. The Speaker declared Rahul Gandhi as the leader of the opposition and after that he met the Speaker along with other alliance partner leaders," he said.
Asked whether Gandhi discussed the issue of Emergency being raised in the House, Venugopal said, "We discussed many things regarding the functioning of Parliament. Of course, this issue also came up."
The Congress leader said, "Rahul ji, as the leader of the opposition, informed the Speaker about the issue and said it could have been avoided by referring to the Speaker. This is clearly a political reference, it could have been avoided." Was."
Soon after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker, Birla had created a stir on Wednesday by reading a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as an attack on the Constitution, which was strongly opposed by Congress members. was performed. at home.
Birla reminded that the country was exposed to the brutal realities of the Emergency on June 26, 1975, when the Congress government jailed opposition leaders, imposed several restrictions on the media and also curbed the autonomy of the judiciary.
This is Gandhi's first meeting with the Speaker after taking charge as leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He was accompanied by SP's Dharmendra Yadav, DMK's Kanimozhi, Shiv Sena (SP's) Supriya Sule and TMC's Kalyan Banerjee, besides some others.
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal told reporters after the meeting at Parliament House that it was a courtesy call, during which Gandhi also raised the issue of the Speaker imposing emergency in the House.
"It was a courtesy call. The Speaker declared Rahul Gandhi as the leader of the opposition and after that he met the Speaker along with other alliance partner leaders," he said.
Asked whether Gandhi discussed the issue of Emergency being raised in the House, Venugopal said, "We discussed many things regarding the functioning of Parliament. Of course, this issue also came up."
The Congress leader said, "Rahul ji, as the leader of the opposition, informed the Speaker about the issue and said it could have been avoided by referring to the Speaker. This is clearly a political reference, it could have been avoided." Was."
Soon after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker, Birla had created a stir on Wednesday by reading a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as an attack on the Constitution, which was strongly opposed by Congress members. was performed. at home.
Birla reminded that the country was exposed to the brutal realities of the Emergency on June 26, 1975, when the Congress government jailed opposition leaders, imposed several restrictions on the media and also curbed the autonomy of the judiciary.
This is Gandhi's first meeting with the Speaker after taking charge as leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He was accompanied by SP's Dharmendra Yadav, DMK's Kanimozhi, Shiv Sena (SP's) Supriya Sule and TMC's Kalyan Banerjee, besides some others.
