Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition was "scared" of what he will say.
New Delhi:
Rahul Gandhi set the tone for the Budget session on Wednesday morning as he arrived in Parliament. He picked combative.
"I will speak, but they will not let me speak. Because they are scared of what I will say," the Congress vice-president said, referring to a debate on the JNU controversy in the Lok Sabha of which he is a member.
The Lok Sabha debate, which was to have begun on Thursday, was advanced to Wednesday afternoon. Mr Gandhi has not spoken yet.
The Congress leader was seen leaving the house when the BJP's Anurag Thakur spoke. But he was there during the speech of his party's Jyotiraditya Scindia, who accused the government of trying to silence the voice of students.
Mr Gandhi thumped his desk often and egged on Mr Scindia to target the government.
The ruling BJP has attacked Mr Gandhi, who has supported protests against JNU students being charged with sedition over an event where anti-India slogans were raised. The event was organised in support of Parliament attack terrorist Afzal Guru.
"Answer me, was Afzal Guru a terrorist? If not why did your government hang him," asked Mr Thakur, who directed his question at Mr Gandhi, and then stopped to say, "He has left. Who will I pose my questions to now?"
At a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich, BJP chief Amit Shah said, "I want to him to clarify before the country, does he support anti-national slogans? And if he condemns them, he should have the courage to say it and not stoop so low for vote-bank politics."
Mr Gandhi has accused the BJP and its ideological mentor the RSS of "imposing their ideology."
"Rahul Gandhi, the country wants a reply from you and your party on your stand on anti-national slogans," said senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, when asked to comment on Mr Gandhi's remark that the government will muzzle him because it is afraid.
"Our government is not scared of anyone, we want a clear debate. We are not scared of the Congress party. We'd like Rahul Gandhi to respond to our debate," Mr Prasad said.
"I will speak, but they will not let me speak. Because they are scared of what I will say," the Congress vice-president said, referring to a debate on the JNU controversy in the Lok Sabha of which he is a member.
The Lok Sabha debate, which was to have begun on Thursday, was advanced to Wednesday afternoon. Mr Gandhi has not spoken yet.
The Congress leader was seen leaving the house when the BJP's Anurag Thakur spoke. But he was there during the speech of his party's Jyotiraditya Scindia, who accused the government of trying to silence the voice of students.
Mr Gandhi thumped his desk often and egged on Mr Scindia to target the government.
The ruling BJP has attacked Mr Gandhi, who has supported protests against JNU students being charged with sedition over an event where anti-India slogans were raised. The event was organised in support of Parliament attack terrorist Afzal Guru.
"Answer me, was Afzal Guru a terrorist? If not why did your government hang him," asked Mr Thakur, who directed his question at Mr Gandhi, and then stopped to say, "He has left. Who will I pose my questions to now?"
At a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich, BJP chief Amit Shah said, "I want to him to clarify before the country, does he support anti-national slogans? And if he condemns them, he should have the courage to say it and not stoop so low for vote-bank politics."
Mr Gandhi has accused the BJP and its ideological mentor the RSS of "imposing their ideology."
"Rahul Gandhi, the country wants a reply from you and your party on your stand on anti-national slogans," said senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, when asked to comment on Mr Gandhi's remark that the government will muzzle him because it is afraid.
"Our government is not scared of anyone, we want a clear debate. We are not scared of the Congress party. We'd like Rahul Gandhi to respond to our debate," Mr Prasad said.
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