Lok Sabha represents the whole country, not just one party, says LoP Rahul Gandhi

The Lok Sabha does not represent just one party, but rather the whole country, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday (March 11, 2026), noting that he had been stopped from speaking in the Lower House on multiple occasions.

Mr. Gandhi was responding to BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad during the debate on the motion to remove Speaker Om Birla. Mr. Prasad cited parliamentary procedures to say that the LoP should measure his words carefully on issues of national security, especially when he is on foreign soil.

In response, Mr. Gandhi said that “vile things” were being said about him during the debate. “The discussion here is about the democratic process and the role of the Speaker. But multiple times, my name is being raised, vile things are being said about me. This House is the expression of the people’s will. This House does not represent one party; it represents the whole country,” the LoP said.

‘Stopped from speaking’

“Every time we get up to speak, we are stopped. The last time I spoke, I raised a fundamental question about the compromises that had been made by our Prime Minister. Multiple times, I have been stopped from speaking. Just a few days ago, for the first time in India’s history, the Leader of Opposition was not allowed to speak during a debate,” the Congress leader said.

The last time he had spoken in Parliament, Mr. Gandhi said, he had raised the issue of “the Prime Minister being compromised”.

“I raised the issue of Mr. Naravane, I raised the issue of Epstein, I raised the issue of Adani, and I was silenced. These issues are fundamental to the people of India,” he said, referring to controversies involving the former Chief of Army Staff M.M. Naravane, the American child sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, and billionaire businessman Gautam Adani. “Our Prime Minister has been compromised; everybody knows the result of that,” Mr. Gandhi added.