The ongoing row over books spilled onto the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, triggering repeated disruptions after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey cited controversial publications targeting the Nehru-Gandhi family, even as Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was prevented from speaking.
The Opposition accused the Narendra Modi government of double standards, arguing that while Rahul Gandhi was stopped from referring to an unpublished book, Dubey was allowed to read from multiple controversial titles, including Edwina and Nehru.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi slammed the functioning of Parliament as being heavily tilted in favour of the ruling party. Reacting to Dubey’s remarks, she said excerpts read out in the House accused members of the Gandhi family — including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi — of “aiyyashi, makkari and bhrashtachar” (debauchery, trickery and corruption).
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Priyanka Gandhi said, “The Modi government wants to show that only it runs Parliament. This is an insult to the office of the Speaker, Parliament, democracy and the people of the country.”
Trouble resumed soon after the House reassembled at 2 pm, when Dubey rose to speak, claiming that since Rahul Gandhi had quoted from an unpublished book, he was now entitled to expose what he described as the truth about the Gandhi family. As he spoke, Dubey displayed a stack of books and began reading out passages.
The Lok Sabha Speaker intervened, citing Rule 349, which bars members from reading out from books, newspapers or letters unless directly related to the business of the House. The Speaker pointed out that a ruling on the issue had already been given when Rahul Gandhi attempted to cite from former Army chief General Manoj Naravane’s unpublished memoir over the past two days.
As Opposition MPs rose in protest and Dubey continued speaking, the Speaker adjourned the House till 5 pm.
Visibly angry over her family being repeatedly targeted, Priyanka Gandhi alleged that the BJP deliberately deploys Dubey to disrupt proceedings. “When the Modi government wants to derail the House, it asks Nishikant Dubey to speak,” she said.
She accused the government of silencing the Opposition, adding, “On one hand, the Leader of the Opposition is not allowed to quote from a book that has already been published. On the other, Nishikant Dubey sits with six books, openly displays them, reads from them, and his microphone is not switched off.”
Priyanka Gandhi further claimed that by blocking Rahul Gandhi from citing General Naravane’s work, the government was attempting to suppress not just the Opposition but also “the crores of people who voted for Opposition MPs”.
Alleging that the controversy was being used to divert attention, she said the government did not want people to know what Naravane had written about the situation on the China border. “When the Chinese army was present on our borders, those in power could not decide what to do,” she said.
The confrontation followed Rahul Gandhi’s claim earlier that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “compromised”, a charge he made while attempting to quote from an unpublished book. Dubey responded by displaying several books which he said documented decades of deception, betrayal and corruption by the Nehru-Gandhi family.
The uproar led to the adjournment of the Lok Sabha ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address. When the House reconvened at 5 pm, it was adjourned for the day without the Prime Minister’s response.