03 February,2026 03:35 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi at Lok Sabha during the Budget session 2026. (Pic/PTI)
During the ongoing Budget session 2026, for the second consecutive day, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, raised the Ladakh standoff issue. Despite repeated objections from the Chair to only present "authentic sources", the Congress MP urged to speak about the Ladakh standoff issue.
As reported by news agency IANS, the Lok Sabha saw a heated exchange as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition MPs continued to accuse the Centre of "misleading" the House on the India-China issue.
The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha has been raising the Ladakh standoff issue while quoting from a magazine article linked to an "unpublished book" by former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane.
Even after the Chair issued a ruling stating that no one can quote a news article or magazine, citing parliamentary rules, the LoP remained adamant about raising the issue.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that he was not being given "permission" to speak in the House and said that, being the LoP, "No one can give him any permission to speak," as per IANS.
Rahul Gandhi, while speaking furiously during the session, said, "I am objecting to the term 'permission'; it is not the correct word. Because I am not given permission by anyone to speak. I am the LoP... so, I am objecting to that."
Amid the heated session in the Lok Sabha, the opposition MPs continued to protest the rulings of the Chair and demanded that the LoP be allowed to speak on the issue.
Rahul Gandhi, while questioning about the denial of permission to speak, said, "The President's address was about the path India has to chart, the direction in which India has to move. Today, on the world stage, the main issue in international affairs is the conflict between China and the US. This is central to our president's address and our budget. And I want to make a statement about what happened between China and India and how our prime minister reacted to it. Why am I being stopped?" as per IANS.
"In Eastern Ladakh, there was a conflict; our soldiers were killed," he continued, when he was again interrupted by the treasury benches.
Replying to the LoP, the Chair said, "I made a repeated request to Honourable LoP to speak on the President's address," and then he called on the next speaker, Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Uttam Patel.
Patel, however, refused to speak. Following this, he called other speakers from the opposition side, but all refused to speak.
Amid the constant sloganeering and ruckus, TDP MP G.M. Harish Balayogi stood up to speak on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, as per IANS.
However, the lower house of the Parliament was adjourned till 3:00 pm amid the ruckus going on around the LoP not being allowed to speak.
(With inputs from IANS)
