On August 12, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi got irked when a journalist asked him a seemingly uncomfortable question and accused the journalist of being biased against the opposition. Rahul Gandhi was speaking to the press during the protest opposition had orchestrated outside the Parliament. He accused the government of not letting the opposition leaders raise questions on the Pegasus issue, farmer laws, insurance bill and more. He also accused the government that men from outside were brought in dressed up in Blue Uniform (Marshal Uniform) to beat up the leaders of the opposition.
One of the reporters present outside the Parliament where Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders were giving speeches asked Rahul Gandhi, “Venkaiah Naidu said during his address in the upper house that he had never seen such behaviour in the Parliament. Leaders were tearing paper and throwing it towards the Chair. Some leaders threw files at Chair. He was blaming you [the opposition] for the ruckus….”
Before he could complete it, Rahul Gandhi interrupted him and asked, “Are you the government’s spokesman? Has the government asked you to say so? I am asking you. Are you the government’s spokesman? Do you work for the government?” The reporter replied, “I am from media,” to which Rahul said, “You are not from media. You are the government’s employee. I will tell you the truth about the media. Let me tell you. Let me tell you.”
“This was for the first time in the Rajya Sabha, Members of Parliament were beaten up. People were called from outside. They were dressed in blue uniforms. They beat up the Members of Parliament. And you are asking me that the chairman was unhappy. What is the responsibility of the chairman? It is the chairman’s responsibility to run the house. Why did he not run the house in the last few days? Why opposition cannot raise their questions in the Parliament?”
Subsequently, video released shows that it was the MPs, especially women MPs, who had beaten up the marshals in Rajya Sabha.
#WATCH CCTV footage of ruckus by Opposition MPs in Parliament on 11th August pic.twitter.com/S3kvCp1gTz
— ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2021
Rahul Gandhi then accused Prime Minister of selling the country to two-three business houses. “This is why the opposition is not allowed to talk about farmers, unemployment, insurance bill, or Pegasus in the house,” he said and left without answering the reporter’s tough question.
