Congress says government is misusing rules to silence Leader of Opposition from quoting Naravane’s book on China border issue

The Congress on Monday (February 2, 2026) accused the Narendra Modi Government of “misusing rules to heckle and silence” Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, preventing him from speaking on the 2020 India-China border conflict by objecting to references to former Army chief General (retired) Manoj Naravane’s memoir.

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal, who repeatedly took on the Treasury benches as Mr. Gandhi attempted to raise the issue in the House, said the government was afraid that the “truth of its incompetence” would be exposed.

“This faux-nationalist government is so afraid of the truth of their incompetence coming out that they have deployed a bunch of seniormost Cabinet Ministers to prevent LOP Sh. Rahul Gandhi ji from speaking. They moved heaven and earth to stall the publishing of Ex Army Chief Gen. Manoj Naravane ji’s book. And now, when excerpts are coming out exposing their so-called nationalist commitments, they are heckling and silencing the Leader of Opposition,” Mr. Venugopal said in a post on X.

“It is a textbook case of 21st-century fascism, where first you stifle dissent in public, and then misuse rules to further silence your opponents,” he added. Mr. Venugopal alleged that the government was “blatantly misinterpreting the rules of procedure” so that the House and the people of the country are deprived of knowing “their Himalayan blunders” during the face-off with China.

Referring to Rule 349 (i) of the Lok Sabha Rules of Procedure, Mr. Venugopal argued that the rule does not allow a member to read any book, newspaper or letter except in connection with the business of the House. “National security was very much part of the Hon’ble President of India’s address. Rahul ji was well within the rules to quote a published magazine report on India’s security situation vis-a-vis China. How is it a violation of rules?” he told The Hindu.

A row erupted in the Lok Sabha when Mr. Gandhi sought to quote from reports based on the unpublished “memoir” of Gen. Naravane, but Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju all objected to it, citing violation of rules and established procedures. The BJP leaders questioned how the Opposition leader could refer to a magazine report of a memoir which is yet to be published and the Defence Minister accused the Congress leader of “misleading” the House.

The magazine, which quoted from Gen. Naravane’s unpublished memoir, wrote about an incident on August 31, 2020, when four Chinese tanks were reported to be moving up a steep mountain track towards Rechin La in eastern Ladakh. Though the Army Chief asked for clear orders from the government, the report, quoting the memoir, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reverted back after two hours, conveying the Prime Minister’s message: Jo uchit samjho, wohkaro [do whatever you deem appropriate].

“The Prime Minister, the Home Minister, and the Defence Minister don’t want you to read this,” Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, sharing the magazine report which carried excerpts from the unpublished memoir of the former Army chief.

Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Mr. Gandhi said, “The leader of the country is supposed to give directions. The leader is not supposed to run away from decisions and leave them on other people’s shoulders. That is what the Prime Minister has done.”