New Delhi [India], July 30 : Parts of Rahul Gandhi's speech during the Operation Sindoor discussion in the Lok Sabha were expunged from the record after he criticised the government for trying to protect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image.
Gandhi held PM Modi responsible for the Pahalgam attack, saying he had "blood of Pahalgam victims" on his hands.
He also questioned why Operation Sindoor lasted only 22 minutes and challenged Modi to publicly call US President Donald Trump a liar over his repeated claims of mediating an India-Pakistan ceasefire.
Addressing the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the purpose of Operation Sindoor was to protect the image of the Prime Minister. "His (PM's hands are stained with the blood of those killed in Pahalgam. He used the Air Force to safeguard his public image," Gandhi claimed.
Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha allows, at the Speaker's discretion, for expunging any words or statements considered to be unparliamentary or unprofessional during a debate or discussion.
Gandhi launched a sharp attack on former US President Donald Trump, accusing him of violating diplomatic norms by inviting Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for lunch. Gandhi alleged that Munir, who he claimed is the mastermind behind the Pahalgam terror attack, was being entertained by Trump while India's Prime Minister chose to remain absent. "The man behind Pahalgam is having lunch with Trump and our Prime Minister is nowhere to be seen," he remarked.
The LS Leader of Opposition had participated in the discussion which, went on for two days, on July 29 (Tuesday), where he criticised the handling of Operation Sindoor, claiming that National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led Centre did not have the "political will" to fight and only wanted to protect the image of PM Modi.
"You told the Pakistanis exactly what you would do. You told them we would not hit military targets, you told them we do not want escalation... It means you have directly told Pakistan that you do not have the political will to fight. This is said by the Defence Minister. It means the government of India informed the Pakistani government that we have no political will, we don't want to fight. Surrender, immediate surrender in 30 minutes," the Congress MP said.
He also attacked PM Modi for his 'silence' on US President Donald Trump's claims of having brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, challenging him to publicly denounce the US president's claim in Parliament.
"Donald Trump has said 29 times that he brokered a ceasefire. If he is lying, then the PM should say this in the House that Trump is lying. If he has the courage of Indira Gandhi, let him say here that Donald Trump is a liar. And we didn't lose any planes. If he has even 50 per cent courage of Indira Gandhi."
Apart from the LS LoP, certain words and remarks of other MPs, including Baramulla MP Abdul Rashid (also known as Engineer Rashid), Jadavpur MP Saayoni Ghosh, Nilgiris MP A Raja, were expunged after their speeches.
Ghosh's words 'monkey' and 'joker,' made about Indira Gandhi and PM Modi, respectively, were expunged.
Nilgiris MP and DMK leader A Raja's speech had multiple words expunged like 'shame,' 'incompetence,' 'tyranny,' 'dictatorship,' 'ashamed', and 'nonsense.'
From Engineer Rashid's speech, made in Hindi, the word 'died' was removed. The Baramulla MP was requesting his time to speak, saying, "I have come here (in the house) by giving 15 lakh, has your conscience died?'
Meanwhile, on Congress MP Praniti Shinde's now-expunged remark in Lok Sabha, PM Modi said, "She was made to say that Operation Sindoor was a 'tamasha'. This is like putting acid (on the wounds) of the 26 people killed by terrorists."
The Rajya Sabha is set to continue the discussion on Operation Sindoor today, after a marathon of discussion in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha earlier on Tuesday.