Cong Recalls Manmohan Prevented from Speaking on Prez Address in 2004
New Delhi: Amid the government-opposition deadlock in the Lok Sabha, the Congress on Thursday recalled that on June 10, 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was prevented by the BJP from speaking on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s Address. Congress general secretary for communications Jairam Ramesh posted a video of Singh’s speech on 10 March 2005 on
On Wednesday night, Ramesh had said that to remember and remind June 10, 2004, the then chief minister was prevented from speaking on the Motion of Thanks by the BJP due to the President’s Address.
“On March 10, 2005, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh began his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address as follows: ‘Mr. President, sir, I consider it a great privilege to be here today to express the gratitude of our Government to the honorable Rashtrapatiji for his address to the members of both Houses of Parliament.
“‘Sir, this is a hard-earned privilege for me as I had to wait all year to accomplish this happy mission. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the President twice for his speech last year and his speech this year,'” Ramesh recalled.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed dramatic scenes; Opposition female MPs carried banners to the prime minister’s chair ahead of his scheduled speech, causing the hearings to be postponed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in the House and opposition members flocked to the House Well while BJP member PP Chaudhary was making remarks on the Motion of Thanks in the President’s Address.
Government officials had stated that the Prime Minister would respond to the debate on the Motion of Thanks at 17:00 on Wednesday.
When the House met at 5 pm after three adjournments, Sandhya Rai, the sitting BJP member, called Chaudhary to comment on the Motion.
Soon women members of the Opposition flocked to the Well and headed towards the Treasury benches to protest the trade deal with the US over former Army chief MM Naravane’s ‘unpublished’ book.
While opposition members approached the prime minister’s seat, the president postponed the hearing for a day.
The Prime Minister is expected to address the Rajya Sabha on Thursday; where the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address took place without any disruption.
It was not immediately clear when the prime minister would address the Lok Sabha as opposition protests are expected to continue. A discussion on the Union Budget was on the Lok Sabha agenda on Thursday.
The tussle between the government and the opposition in the Lok Sabha had intensified on Tuesday after one CPI(M) and seven Congress members were suspended for unruly behavior during the remainder of the Budget session.
