Walkout as Mallikarjun Kharge not allowed to speak

New Delhi, February 10

Members of the Congress along with a few other opposition party MPs in the Rajya Sabha today staged a walkout after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar did not allow Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to speak, saying he cannot read out portions from his speech, which was expunged.

Opposition members protested in support of the Leader of Opposition, who wanted to raise his point, but Dhankhar did not accede to their demand.

The Chairman said he had allowed the Leader of Opposition to speak earlier, but he could not be allowed to raise the same points which have already been expunged. Following this several Opposition MPs, including that of the Congress, trooped to the Well and raised slogans when their demands were not met.

The Vice President also appealed to the MPs to return to their seats, while calling out several Congress members, including KC Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, Deepender Hooda, among others.

Naming the MPs, Dhankhar wanted them to be kept out of the proceedings of the House, but the Congress MPs eventually went back to their respective seats.

Addressing the Chairman, Kharge said, “I will definitely speak my heart out even if my membership (of the House) is cancelled. We are upset with the government… not with you.” Earlier, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said Kharge should first apologise on behalf of the entire Opposition, which created uproar during the PM’s speech in reply to the motion of thanks on President’s address in Rajya Sabha yesterday.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Kharge said, “Shouldn’t there be an inquiry into the Adani scam? Shouldn’t the matter be referred to the JPC? Shouldn’t there be a discussion on the money that banks invested in Adani’s businesses?”

Duty to question govt on Adani row: Cong

• Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge reiterated his party’s demand for a JPC probe into the Adani Group controversy
• Alleging PM acted as an ‘agent’ for Adani Group, he said it was the party’s duty to question the government
• Questioning the regulatory bodies of the country, Kharge said the RBI, SEBI, ED, Income Tax Department and the CBI appeared to have paralysed