Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was suspended from Lok Sabha on Thursday for ‘unruly’ conduct.
The suspension movement was brought in the Parliament by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. Speaking in Lok Sabha on Thursday, during a discussion on the no-confidence motion brought by the Opposition, Chowdhury compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Hindu epic Mahabharata’s blind kind Dhritarashtra. He said, “Jab Dhritrashtra andhe the, tab Droupadi ka vastra haran hua tha, aaj bhi raja andhe baithe hai… Manipur aur Hastinapur mein koi farq nahi hai.”
Chowdhury also likened PM Modi to fugitive Nirav Modi.
Chowdhury’s remarks evoked stark opposition from the ruling party. Joshi said, “Baseless allegation against the Prime Minister cannot be accepted. This should be expunged and he should apologise.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to ask Chowdhury to exercise restraint and maintain the decorum of the House.
Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla later said that Chowdhury’s certain remarks had been expunged from the record.
During his speech in the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury responded to Amit Shah’s ‘Quit India’ call. He said, “Quit India must happen – quit India from communalisation, quit India from polarisation, quit India from saffronisation.”
As Chowdhury began his speech, PM Modi walked in the Lok Sabha. Chowdhury said, “The power of no-confidence motion has brought the Prime Minister in the Parliament today. None of us were thinking about this no-confidence motion. We were only demanding that PM Modi should come to the Parliament and speak on the Manipur issue. We were not demanding any BJP member to come to the Parliament, we were only demanding our PM to come”
Further Chowdhury also spoke on violence-hit Manipur saying, “The violence in Manipur is not a small issue. Manipur is facing ethnic violence and a civil war. It has assumed global dimension and was discussed in European Parliament as well as in America. Manipur issue cannot be confined to any state…and that is why Prime Minister’s intervention is indispensable.”