Rahul Gandhi is back as an MP after a Supreme Court ruling
Rahul Gandhi's speech in Lok Sabha today was preceded by contradictory reports and flip-flops, leading to a massive confusion.
Day 2 of the debate on the no-confidence motion started with speculation on whether Mr Gandhi will address the House today. While some reports claimed he will, others pointed to his engagements in Rajasthan today.
Later in the day, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress's leader in Lok Sabha, said Mr Gandhi will address Lok Sabha at noon. Less than two hours later, Congress sources said Mr Gandhi will be speaking in the House tomorrow. Less than an hour later, information came in that Mr Gandhi will be addressing the House at noon today.
Mr Gandhi's remarks to media when he reached Parliament only added to the confusion. Asked whether he would be speaking today, he replied, "I speak daily. Have patience."
Today's u-turns are only the latest in the series of flip-flops since the debate began.
Earlier, reports had claimed that the senior Congress leader would start the debate on the no-confidence motion backed by the Opposition bloc INDIA. The motion was moved by Gaurav Gogoi, Kaliabor MP and deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, but the reports said he would step aside to let Mr Gandhi initiate the discussion.
But, when the House met yesterday, it was Mr Gogoi who started the debate. The treasury benches did not lose the opportunity to take a swipe, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi saying, "We have come to hear him (Mr Gandhi) speak."
Mr Gogoi responded that whatever is discussed in the Speaker's chamber stays there. He questioned if the BJP would like if he cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks in the chamber. To this, the ruling party MPs, led by Home Minister Amit Shah, dared him to speak out. The chaos continued before Mr Gogoi eventually started the debate.
According to Congress sources, the party decided to let Mr Gogoi begin the debate because he is an MP from the Northeast region and his initiating the debate on the no-trust motion on the Manipur issue holds symbolic significance. Also, replacing him with Mr Gandhi as soon as he is back as an MP would only expose the party to attacks from the BJP, which never loses a chance to play the dynasty card.
The Congress and INDIA are well aware that they do not stand a chance in this no-confidence motion as far as numbers are concerned. The move is primarily to force the Prime Minister to address the House on Manipur and target the BJP on the situation in the northeastern state. The party, therefore, does not want to provide any opportunity to the BJP to turn the situation to its advantage.