Attack on Speaker is Congress’ attempt to hide the fact that Rahul Gandhi cannot be an effective MP: Amit Shah in Congress

New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah A fierce counterattack against the opposition was launched on Wednesday, targeting Rahul Gandhias he blamed the move to oust the Speaker About Birla Opposition leaders are angry over frequent electoral defeats and are seeking to cast doubt on institutions as Congress shifts to “completely negative mode”.Addressing the Lok Sabha at the end of two days of discussions, Shah sought to turn the tables on the opposition, blaming the row on the Congress’ attempt to divert attention from what he said was Rahul’s inability to be an effective parliamentarian by making the speaker a scapegoat.In a sharp rebuttal to the opposition MPs’ arguments, he cited official figures, claiming that the Congress party was allotted far more time in parliamentary proceedings than its actual numbers as an opposition party in the House warranted, contrasting this with Rahul Gandhi’s “poor” participation. “It is wrong to say that he (Rahul) was not allowed to speak. He did not want to speak or that he could not speak as per the rules,” Shah said in a speech that was met with multiple protests by opposition members who rushed to the well and demanded an apology from him for using the word “un-parliamentary”. Shah urged Chairman Jagdambikar Pal to remove the word if it was not in compliance with parliamentary rules, but the protests continued.“He did not even participate in the debate on the Speaker’s motion,” the interior minister said.“The Constitution gives you rights, but it does not give you special rights. Those who live in the illusion of special rights are increasingly being ignored and are shrinking in size,” he said. Recalling instances of Rahul forcibly hugging the prime minister, blowing kisses and winking at colleagues, he said it was not an emergency and no special rights would be given.The home minister said Parliament was not “fair” and MPs had to follow rules and blamed the actions against opposition MPs on their flouting of norms, which included Rahul not being allowed to speak after frequently citing former army chief Naravane’s unpublished memoirs and the suspension of eight MPs. He praised Birla’s conduct and said he allowed every member a chance to speak. Shah noted that he was the only one of the four speakers to face such a motion and that he refused to attend the proceedings after being notified of his removal to take the moral high ground.Shah questioned Rahul’s record, detailing his absence on important dates, from the annual motion of thanks to the President’s address and the budget debate, to the legislative debate on the abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution. Shah quipped that he was not even participating in the party’s political program or campaign but was abroad.