NEW DELHI, March 26 -- Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that he was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha, saying the Speaker "just ran away" when he attempted to raise the issue of unemployment.

The Congress MP has alleged on earlier occasions also that his microphone was switched off in the Lok Sabha when he attempted to raise pressing issues. Last year, in June, Gandhi alleged that his microphone was turned off in Lok Sabha as he raised the NEET paper leak issue. The Speaker then said he does not switch off the microphones of MPs and has no such control.

"There is a convention that the Leader of the Opposition is allowed to speak. I requested him to let me speak but he (Speaker) just ran away. This is no way to run the House. The Speaker just left, and he did not let me speak... he said something unsubstantiated about me...he adjourned the House," Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament complex.

He said the House was being run in a "non-democratic style", adding that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had made "unsubstantiated" remarks about him.

Gandhi's remarks came after Birla asked him to follow the rules of procedure that members are expected to observe to uphold the dignity of the House. It was not immediately clear what was the reason for the Speaker to make the observation.

The former Congress president said the Speaker made remarks about him and then adjourned the House without giving him an opportunity to speak.

"The Speaker just got up and left. He did not allow me to speak a word. He was speaking about me, and I don't know what he said about me, all unsubstantiated. I said, 'Let me speak as you have spoken about me', but he did not say a word and just left. He adjourned the House when there was no need of it," the Raebareli MP said.

About 70 Congress Lok Sabha MPs, including deputy leader of Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, party general secretary KC Venugopal and party's whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, met the Lok Sabha speaker and raised the "denial" of opportunity to Gandhi to speak in the House.

Speaking with reporters in the Parliament House complex, Gandhi said: "So, in what manner is this House being run? We are not being allowed to speak. I have not done anything, I was sitting quietly, I did not speak anything. In the last 7-8 days, I have not been allowed to speak."

In a democracy, the Opposition has a place and the government has its own place but here there is no place for the Opposition, he alleged.

Gandhi said he wanted to speak on Maha Kumbh last week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a statement on it but he was not allowed to speak.

"I wanted to state that it is good that Kumbh happened and I wanted to speak about unemployment but I was not allowed to speak. I don't now what thinking or approach does the Speaker have but the truth is we are not being allowed to speak. It (the House) is being run in a non-democratic style," Gandhi claimed. Earlier, in his remarks, the Speaker said members are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the high standards and dignity of the House.

"Several instances have come to my notice where the conduct of members does not conform to the high standards," the Speaker said.

"In this House, father and daughter, mother and daughter, husband and wife have been members. In this context, I expect the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself in accordance with Rule 349 that deals with rules to be observed by members in the House," the Speaker said.

"Especially, it is expected of the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself as per the rules," the Speaker said.

Birla did not specify the trigger behind censuring Gandhi, who was present in the House and wanted to speak on some issue but the Speaker adjourned the proceedings after making his point.

However, in a post on X, BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya suggested that the Speaker's remarks were prompted by Rahul Gandhi affectionately cupping the cheeks of his sister and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during the proceedings a few days back.

Tagging a video clip, Malviya in his post on X said, "It is disgraceful that the Lok Sabha Speaker has to remind Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition, about basic parliamentary decorum. The fact that Congress has imposed this puerile man upon us is truly unfortunate."

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.