Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi yet again attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, claiming that he did not come to the Lok Sabha to reply to the discussion on Motion of Thanks on President’s Address as he was afraid of a debate on the issue of former Army Chief Gen MM Naravane’s book.

He also dared those claiming that there was a threat to the PM from Opposition lawmakers last week to “file an FIR” against the persons threatening Modi.

Rahul said this while speaking to mediapersons outside Parliament. The Leader of Opposition was again not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The House was adjourned for the day without transacting any business.

The proceedings were completely washed out after repeated adjournments amid protests by Congress-led Opposition members, who objected to Rahul not being allowed to speak and also on the India-US trade deal. The Opposition has alleged that the government failed to safeguard the interests of farmers and was unsuccessful in getting the 18 per cent tariff on Indian goods removed in the deal.

After the House was finally adjourned for the day, Rahul along with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee and DMK’s TR Baalu, met Speaker Om Birla, where he raised the issue of not being allowed to speak. He also raised other matters, like the suspension of Opposition MPs, the allegation against women MPs “posing danger” to the PM and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s “offensive remarks” about the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Birla assured Rahul that he would get back to him on the issues after discussion with the government, sources said.

While speaking to reporters later, Rahul said, “My view is that the government is afraid of a debate. The PM did not come to the House that day because he was afraid of what we were going to say and even of being presented with Naravane’s book. I believe the government is also worried because issues such as the US deal and its impact on farmers will be raised during the Budget discussion.”

Alleging that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a false claim that the book was unpublished, Rahul said, “The book has been published and we have got a copy of it.”

Meanwhile, after a couple of adjournments in the morning, when the House reconvened at 2 pm, BJP MP Sandhya Ray, who was adjudicating the proceedings, called for a discussion on the Budget and invited Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to initiate it.

However, Tharoor said the LoP wanted to speak and he should be allowed to do so. But Rahul was not allowed to speak, as Ray insisted that he had not given any notice to speak. The LoP said Congress leaders had met Birla, who had committed to them that he would be allowed to speak and raise certain points before the Budget discussion, but the Chair was now “going back on its word”.

At this point, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju interjected and said, “No commitment was given by the Speaker to Rahul on being allowed to speak.”