Rahul Gandhi’s remarks lower army’s morale, claims BJP MP Dilip Saikia

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Dilip Saikia on Monday, February 2, launched a scathing attack on Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his remarks during President’s address, accusing the Congress leader of deliberately diverting parliamentary proceedings and attempting to mislead the nation on sensitive national security issues.

Reacting sharply to Gandhi’s intervention in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Budget Session, Saikia alleged that the issues raised by the Leader of Opposition had no connection with the constitutional address delivered by the President of India. He accused Gandhi of raising extraneous matters that not only disrupted parliamentary decorum but also risked damaging public confidence in the country’s armed forces.

“The issues raised by Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi are completely unrelated to the President’s address. He is deliberately trying to mislead the people of the country and create confusion,” Saikia said.

The BJP MP further claimed that Gandhi’s remarks were irresponsible and could lower the morale of the armed forces at a time when national security concerns require unity and restraint. According to Saikia, such statements from a senior opposition leader were detrimental to the country’s interests and security framework.

Saikia’s remarks came against the backdrop of dramatic scenes in Parliament earlier in the day, when proceedings were disrupted following Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to quote from an unpublished book by former Army Chief General Manoj Naravane during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.

As Gandhi began reading excerpts from the book, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh objected, questioning the authenticity of the source and asking whether the book had been formally published.

“He should clarify whether the book has been published or not. It has not been published. He cannot claim to quote from it,” Singh said, asserting that the reference was inadmissible.

Home Minister Amit Shah also objected, stating that newspaper clippings, unpublished books, or unauthenticated material cannot be cited on the floor of the House. He urged the Leader of Opposition to continue his speech without referencing the book.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla backed the objections, citing parliamentary rules and conventions that prohibit quoting from materials unrelated to House proceedings.

Despite the objections, Rahul Gandhi maintained that excerpts published by The Caravan magazine were “100 per cent genuine” and argued that the Defence Minister was mentioned in the text. Several Congress MPs pressed the Speaker to allow Gandhi to continue.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey reiterated that parliamentary rules explicitly bar references to unpublished books. Speaker Birla clarified that even published books cannot be quoted if they are not directly relevant to the proceedings of the House.

Supporting the Leader of Opposition, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav said issues related to China were highly sensitive and argued that Rahul Gandhi should be allowed to raise the matter.

The repeated objections and counter-protests led to prolonged disorder in the House, with opposition MPs staging protests and treasury bench members demanding strict adherence to parliamentary norms. After nearly 45 minutes of disruption, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 3 pm.

Following the adjournment, senior ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh held a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to discuss the developments.