india

Updated: Mar 16, 2020 15:45 IST

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that his right to ask a supplementary question in Lok Sabha was taken away as Speaker Om Birla did not allow it. The former Congress president had asked the government the names of top 50 wilful defaulters but was not allowed a supplementary question amid uproar in the House.

“I had asked a simple question about the names of 50 wilful defaulters. But I was not given a clear answer. What hurt me was that the Speaker did not allow me to ask a supplementary question which is my right as a Member of Parliament,” Gandhi said.

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Gandhi asked that government to give the names and what steps the government has taken to recover loans from the defaulters. His question was listed at serial number 305.

“Prime Minister says that those who have taken loans from the banks and have fled from the country will be brought back to India. I asked for the names of those who have defaulted, but I did not get any reply,” he said in the Lok Sabha.

Minister of State for Finance (MoS) Anurag Thakur rose to reply to Gandhi’s question, but the Congress leaders objected and demanded answers from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. To this, the Speaker said that the MoS can reply to the question.

Thakur said that the names are on the site and that Congress was trying to put the blame on the NDA government for irregularities committed in banks during the previous UPA regime.

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The Speaker then announced the end of the Question Hour at noon as the designated time for it is 11 am to noon and moved to the next item of the agenda.

Gandhi strongly protested saying he should be given the opportunity to ask the second supplementary as is the norm. But the Speaker ignored Gandhi’s request and continued with the business of the House.

At least a dozen Congress members rushed to the Well of the House and started sloganeering saying grave injustice has been done to the Congress leader. Some party members even staged a walkout.