Priyanka Gandhi denies Rijiju’s claim of encouraging MPs in Speaker’s chamber

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has denied Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju’s claim that she encouraged MPs to misbehave in the Speaker’s chamber. Calling the allegation a lie, she said no one was abused and she remained calm during the incident

New Delhi: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday termed as a “lie” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju’s charge that she was egging on her party MPs when they allegedly “misbehaved” in Speaker Om Birla’s chamber, and said “we did not abuse anyone”.

Her remarks came a day after Rijiju claimed that 20 to 25 Congress MPs had abused Birla in his chamber and were not stopped by senior leaders K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi, who were present there.

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“They (the Congress MPs) were egging them on. Had our MPs misbehaved with anyone, our leader would stop them. But their (Congress’) leaders were egging on the MPs to quarrel,” he had said.

Rijiju on Thursday shared a video of the Speaker’s chamber when opposition MPs had gone there last week to protest against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s remarks against former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

“This is the illegal video clip taken by a Congress MP when 20 to 25 Congress MPs entered the chamber of the Hon’ble Speaker, abused him and threatened the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Our party believes in debate and discussion and never encourages MPs to threaten physically,” he said in his post, accompanying the video.

Responding to Rijiju’s charge, Priyanka Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament House complex, “We did not abuse anyone. One or two MPs were agitated, and they expressed it. He also said that I was encouraging them, which is a lie. I was sitting quietly. In the end, I said a few things peacefully to the Speaker.”