New Delhi: Congress Members of Parliament (MPs) have penned a letter to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, urging the restoration of expunged remarks made by Rahul Gandhi in his speech during a no-confidence motion debate. The MPs expressed their perplexity over the decision to remove the word "murder" from the phrase "murder of Bharat Mata," asserting that its usage was metaphorical and contextually relevant. They emphasized that the phrase "murder of democracy" equates to accusing the government of quashing democracy, while "murder of Bharat Mata" symbolizes the government's erasure of the sacred Indian identity. The letter was addressed to Speaker Om Birla.

In their communication, the Congress party also formally requested the reinstatement of the expunged portions from Rahul Gandhi's speech. They stated, "We respectfully urge the prompt restoration of the excised content from Rahul Gandhi's discourse, thereby enabling an accurate and comprehensive representation of his speech." The party further noted that Rahul Gandhi, during his participation in the no-confidence motion debate, took aim at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and subtly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He made reference to the BJP's authority both nationally and in Manipur, alleging that they had compromised the essence of India.

As the first speaker in the resumed no-confidence motion debate, Rahul Gandhi recounted his visit to Manipur and his interactions with victims of violence in the region. He lamented the loss of the nation's voice in Manipur and how the spirit of "Bharat" had been silenced. In response to the omission of segments of Rahul Gandhi's speech from the Lok Sabha records, Pralhad Joshi, the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, clarified that Sansad TV, responsible for broadcasting parliamentary proceedings, is beyond the control of both the Speaker and the BJP government. He affirmed that expunging unparliamentary language has been a longstanding practice and emphasized that the TV channel's operations are independent.

Significantly, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary disclosed that he had engaged in discussions with Lok Sabha Speaker Birla, who assured a reconsideration of the list of words deemed "unparliamentary." It is noteworthy that certain terms, such as 'deshdrohi' (traitor) and 'tanashah' (dictator), are categorized as "unparliamentary" and are prohibited in both houses of parliament.

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