Listen to this article:

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha saw an uproar on Thursday (March 12) as Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi’s speech was once again cut short as he referred to Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri’s links with convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while referring to the concerns for India’s energy crisis in the wake of the conflict in West Asia.

Gandhi said that he had “figured out the puzzle” of why a country like India would allow US President Donald Trump to “permit” purchasing Russian oil and said that the “puzzle” is due to a “compromise” and pointed to Puri to say that he himself had admitted that he was a “friend” of Epstein’s.

As Gandhi sought to show a document which allegedly showed links between Puri’s daughter and George Soros, his speech was cut short as Speaker Om Birla said that he should speak on the matter on which he had given notice.

“The foundation of every single nation is its energy security. I do not say this lightly, but allowing the United States to decide who we buy oil from, who we buy gas from, whether we can buy oil from Russia or not, whether our relationships with different oil suppliers can be decided by us, this is what has been bartered,” said Gandhi.

“This has been a very puzzling fact for me, why a nation the size of India would allow any other nation, the President of another nation, to give us permission to buy Russian oil, decide who our relationships are with. I have been trying to figure this puzzle out and I have figured this puzzle out. The puzzle is about compromise. We have a gentleman sitting here who is the Oil Minister. He himself has said that he is a friend of Epstein,” said Gandhi.

Birla immediately said “no” as Gandhi mentioned Epstein. 

Gandhi said that he was “talking about oil security”

“I am talking about economic security, here I have a document which shows that his (Puri’s) daughter has received money from George Soros,” said Gandhi.

Amid the uproar, Birla said that the leader of opposition had been allowed to speak on the LPG shortage in the country, for which he had given a notice and cannot speak about other issues. 

“I have said in the morning also that the House runs according to rules. The notice that was given you speak on that. If you wanted to speak on this issue, you should have given notice, I would have decided whether to allow it or not,” said Birla.

Amid the uproar from opposition benches Birla called Samajwadi Party’s Dharmendra Yadav to speak. Yadav said that he will speak, but the leader of opposition should be allowed to complete his speech.

“If he is leader of opposition he has to speak according to rules, cannot go against rules. He has to speak on the matter on which he has given notice,” said Birla.

Birla however, went ahead and called on Puri to make his statement as opposition benches raised loud protests and chanted “Epstein, Epstein”. During Puri’s statement, opposition members chanted “dekho dekho kaun aaya Epstein ka dost aaya” (Look who has come, Epstein’s friend has come.”

Puri then delivered his about 14-minute long statement in which he said that India’s crude oil and LPG supplies are fully protected, while domestic LPG delivery time has also remained unchanged. Following his statement, the house was adjourned and when the proceedings reconvened, the house went back to the discussion on the Supplementary Demand for Grants.

Earlier during his speech Gandhi said that war in West Asia will have “far reaching consequences.”

“The central artery from where 20% of the global oil flows, Strait of Hormuz flows, has been closed. And this will have tremendous repercussions or us because a very large portion of our oil and natural gas comes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

“The pain has just started, restaurants are closing there is widespread panic about LPG, street vendors are affected. This is only the beginning.”

Later addressing the media, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said that Gandhi was given “special permission” to speak on the LPG crisis but spoke about other things, which was against the rules.

“Today, LoP Rahul Gandhi submitted a letter to the Speaker stating that he wanted to hold a discussion on the reported LPG shortage. The Petroleum Minister was asked to prepare a response and Rahul Gandhi was given special permission to speak. Even then, he started talking about various other issues instead of the LPG issue. He did not speak on the issue despite the Speaker asking him to do so. When the petroleum minister was giving a detailed statement, Rahul Gandhi sent his MPs to the well, they tore papers and raised an uproar again. If they behave like this, amend the rules, despite giving special permission to leader of opposition, they should realise House will run according to rules,” Rijiju said. 

This is the second time in a month that Gandhi’s speech has been cut short. In the first half of the budget session last month, Gandhi was stopped during his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address as he sought to refer to former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane’s yet unpublished memoir and said that the book showed the government’s handling of the 2020 border clash with China. While the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address was passed without a speech by the leader of opposition and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first half of the session saw the opposition raising protests due to Gandhi not being allowed to speak. The opposition then brought a no confidence motion against Birla which was defeated in the House on Wednesday.

© The Wire