"Rahul Gandhi's first speech as LoP was toxic rant": BJP's CR Kesavan

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 2 : BJP leader CR Kesavan on Tuesday termed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's maiden speech in the Lok Sabha a "toxic rant".
He also accused the LoP of distorting facts and misleading the Lower House.
"Rahul Gandhi's first speech as LoP yesterday was a toxic rant. He maliciously distorted facts and twisted truth in his speech yesterday and misled the august House of the people and the nation," Kesavan told ANI.
In his speech in Lok Sabha on Monday afternoon, during the debate on the motion of thanks on President Draupadi Murmu's address, Rahul Gandhi targeting the BJP, said, "those who call themselves Hindus indulge in hate and violence round the clock."
The BJP members, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh stood up to express their protest and rebut the Congress MP's remarks.
Kesavan said that Rahul Gandhi's "cantankerous" speech showed that the latter lacked maturity.
"His cantankerous speech yesterday clearly showed that this man lacks the maturity, sincerity and grace to even be an MP, let alone be the LoP. I want to reiterate by saying this: everybody thought Rahul Gandhi, being an entitled dynast, would show some responsibility as LoP. But no sane-thinking person as an LoP would behave like this in the Parliament. Rahul Gandhi, it is time you apologise to crores of followers of Hindu faith and other religions & also to our Agniveer and our armed forces for the blatant mistruths you have tried to peddle in Parliament," Kesavan said.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla requesting the restoration of remarks expunged from his speech against the central government led by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He stated that he sought to "convey the ground reality in the House."
"I am writing this in the context of remarks and portions expunged from my speech during a discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address on July 1, 2024. While the Chair derives powers to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House, the stipulation is only for those kinds of words, the nature of which has been specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha," the Congress leader said in his letter.
"I am, however, shocked to note the manner in which a considerable portion of my speech has been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction," he added.
Rahul Gandhi asserted that every member of the House has freedom of speech and the right to raise people's concerns.
"I am enclosing relevant portions of the uncorrected Debates of Lok Sabha dated 2 July. I am constrained to state that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380. What I sought to convey in the House is ground reality, the factual position. Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of the people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) of the Constitution of India. It is every member's right to raise people's concerns on the floor of the House," he said.
The Leader of Opposition said that expunging his remarks made in the Lok Sabha is against the tenets of parliamentary democracy.
"It is that right and in exercise of my obligations to the people of the country that I was exercising yesterday. Taking off my considered remarks from the records goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy," he said.
Highlighting BJP MP Anurag Thakur's speech in the Lok Sabha, the Leader of Opposition said, "In this context, I also wish to draw attention to the speech of Shri Anurag Thakur, whose speech was full of allegations; however, surprisingly, only one word has been expunged! With due respect to your good self, this selective expunction defies logic. I request that the remarks expunged from the proceedings be restored."
After Rahul Gandhi's speech created political heat, several portions of his address targeting the central government were expunged from the records of Parliament on Monday.
In his speech in Lok Sabha on Monday afternoon, during the debate on the motion of thanks on President Draupadi Murmu's address, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and RSS of preaching and spreading violence and hatred. His remarks drew protests from the Treasury benches.