Police try to control situation during violent clashes in Saharanpur last month
This Friday, the ball could be in the court of Rahul Gandhi, who complained today of not being allowed to speak in Parliament. The government, say sources, could agree to a discussion that day on recent incidents of communal violence.
It was the demand for an urgent discussion on this issue that saw an unusually aggressive Rahul Gandhi descend into the well of the Lok Sabha on Wednesday morning along with his partymen. They were agitated that the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had disallowed the discussion.
"We are not being allowed to speak in Parliament... there is a mood in Parliament that only one man's voice counts for anything in this country," said Mr Gandhi in a jibe at Prime Minster Narendra Modi, even as he accused the Speaker of bias.
"Those who don't speak in the House accuse us of not allowing them to speak," retorted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, as leader after indignant BJP leader attacked Mr Gandhi.
The party's Sidharth Nath Singh, told PTI, "Rahul Gandhi jumping into the well and accusing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan of being partial is a poor attempt to express 'Main Bhi Hoon Na' (I am there too)."
Mr Gandhi, a three-term MP who is ranked in the Congress second only to the party president and his mother Sonia Gandhi, is often criticised for not being visible or vocal enough in Parliament.
Last month, he appeared to have fallen asleep in House during a debate on price rise. His party defended him with a spokesperson saying, "Many MPs take catnaps."
Mr Gandhi, however, insisted today, "I have raised my voice many times in Parliament."
He will have one more chance to prove his detractors wrong on Friday and speak, if the government agrees to the discussion that the Congress wants on media reports alleging that over 600 incidents of communal tension or violence have taken place between the end of May and July this year in Uttar Pradesh, where bye-elections will be held in one Lok Sabha and 12 assembly seats soon.