Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi’s debut speech in Parliament has earned praise from her brother, Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi.
It has been almost 20 years since Rahul Gandhi’s first speech in the Lok Sabha as Member of Parliament (MP) from Amethi. In comparison, Priyanka’s speech was definitely longer, touching on various topics.
This is Rahul Gandhi’s debut speech in Parliament.
Rahul Gandhi’s first speech in Parliament
Rahul spoke for the first time in Parliament on 21 March 2005 on the issue of sugarcane farmers. Incidentally, he spoke just after Yogi Adityanath was speaking on the issue of gaushalas (cow shelters) in New Delhi. As the then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee told Adityanath, “I have kept my word. I have called you before.” Rahul spoke. “Sir, please allow me to raise at zero time, an issue related to sugarcane farmers in our country.”
He then added, “Sugarcane growers work hard and contribute a lot to our economy. It is the responsibility of the state government to ensure that our farmers get a fair price for their produce. On January 11, 2005, the Uttar Pradesh government filed a statement in the Supreme Court that the private sugarcane mills had paid all dues to the sugarcane farmers of Uttar Pradesh. However, the Uttar Pradesh Ken Commissioner has recently stated in ‘Aaj Tak’ that the outstanding amount of Rs 517 crore for the year 2002-03 has not yet been paid. This is extremely unfair to our farmers.”
He then urged the Government of India that the State Government has complied with the directions given by the Supreme Court in its final judgment dated 5th May, 2004 and our farmers have been given their dues.
After this, the speaker said to him, ‘I appreciate your first speech.
Rahul was an MP from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and sugarcane was an important issue in his constituency. At that time Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. At the center was the Congress-led UPA government.
Compared to Rahul’s short speech, which focused on local issues, Priyanka spoke for 32 minutes, highlighting the contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, facing criticism over the Emergency, and directly criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rahul’s first speech was no anomaly. During his first two terms as an MP, the Congress leader spoke less. Like The Indian Express Reported in May 2015“In the 10 years between Rahul’s first speech in the Lok Sabha in March 2005 and the start of this session, he has spoken a total of seven times.”
What is Zero Hour, in which Rahul made his first speech?
Generally, MPs raise questions for the government and various ministers to answer during Question Time, which is strictly regulated. Question Time, on the other hand, “is an Indian parliamentary innovation. In the Rules of Procedure the phrase does not refer to, “eg Written by Chakshu Rai The Indian Express First.
“The concept of zero hour started organically in the first decade of the Indian Parliament, when MPs felt the need to raise important constituency and national issues. In the early days, Parliament used to have lunch at 1 PM. Hence, the opportunity to raise national issues without prior notice was available to MPs at 12 PM. And it can last for an hour until the House adjourns for lunch. This is why the clock is popularly called zero hour and issues raised during this time are called zero hour submissions,” Roy wrote.
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