Congress MP K.C. Venugopal on Thursday (February 5, 2026) wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla alleging “serious procedural irregularities” and questioning the “authenticity” of the procedure adopted to pass the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address without the customary reply by the Prime Minister.

In his letter, Mr. Venugopal said that under Rule 20 of the Rules of Procedure, it is mandatory for the Prime Minister to explain the government’s position at the end of the discussion. If the Prime Minister is unable to do so, the House must be informed, he said, adding that neither of these requirements was met.

“In the present case, neither did the Hon’ble Prime Minister reply to the debate nor was the House informed about his inability to do so. This clearly amounts to a violation of provisions of Rule 20,” the Congress leader wrote.

Seeking explanation

Mr. Venugopal also referred to Rule 362, under which a debate may be closed without a Minister’s reply only if a motion to that effect is moved by a member and approved by the House. He said that no such motion had been moved before the Motion of Thanks was put to vote around noon, abruptly bringing the debate to a close. “This action, therefore, constitutes a violation of Rule 362,” he added.

MPs were “confused and pained” by the departure from established rules and requested a detailed explanation of the procedure adopted, Mr. Venugopal said.

“Therefore, I would most respectfully request you to apprise the House of the procedure followed by you in dealing with the Prime Minister’s reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks and also the closure of the debate. A proper analysis of the concerned Rules and the procedure adopted by you in this regard will greatly benefit the House,” he added.

Noting that the Speaker is the “custodian of the Rules of the House”, Mr. Venugopal said that proceedings must adhere to the rules framed under Article 118 of the Constitution.

The Congress leader also invoked Article 105, which guarantees freedom of speech to Members of Parliament, and said it was the Speaker’s “sacred duty” to ensure that this freedom was protected.

The Opposition was forced to walk out of the Rajya Sabha because the government was not ready to listen, Congress president and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said on Thursday (February 5, 2026). The remarks came after the united Opposition walked out during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.

Mr. Kharge said the Opposition had been denied the opportunity to speak in both Houses of Parliament over the past four days. 

“We wanted to hear him. But for the last four days, we have been witnessing that our Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak,” Mr. Kharge told reporters. He said the Opposition had sought to place “issues of national interest” before both Houses, including concerns about unemployment, inflation, and the welfare of farmers.

Alleging that the government had “sacrificed farmers’ interests” to “broker a deal with America”, Mr. Kharge said the Opposition wanted accountability on what he described as India’s “surrender” to U.S.’s demands under President Donald Trump. “We wanted to ask all these questions… A united Opposition had decided that if the LoP is allowed to speak then we would participate. But they didn’t allow us,” he said.

Mr. Kharge added that the Opposition had made repeated attempts, “under all rules and regulations”, to present its position in both Houses. “We weren’t disrupting the House. They are determined that they won’t allow the LoP to speak in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. Had they heard me for two minutes we could have resolved it,” he said. He also criticised the Prime Minister’s remarks, saying that leaders who built modern India were being routinely insulted.

Echoing the criticism, Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha and general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on X that the Prime Minister had delivered “another election rally speech” lasting 97 minutes. He described the speech as “overflowing with abuses and assaults, distortions and dramatics, innuendos and insults”, accusing Mr. Modi of “blatant and brazen lies” and of being driven by “self‑obsession” and “dialogue‑baazi”.

CPI(M) MP John Brittas said the office of Leader of the Opposition is on a par with the Prime Minister’s office in a democracy “We rarely get the opportunity to raise matters in front of the Prime Minister because he doesn’t come to the House. Today, he was there, so Mr. Kharge got up to express his views, but he was not allowed.”