Several portions of the speech delivered by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha on Monday were expunged from the records of Parliament on the orders of the speaker.

Responding to the Motion of Thanks on the president’s address to a joint sitting of Parliament last week, the Rae Bareli MP on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of propagating hatred and violence against minorities.

He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh do not represent Hindu society as a whole. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the parent organisation of the BJP.

After these remarks were expunged, Gandhi said on Tuesday: “In Modi ji’s world, truth can be expunged. But in reality, the truth cannot be expunged.”

“I said what I had to say, that is the truth,” ANI quoted him as saying. “They can expunge as much as they want. Truth is truth.”

The Congress leader’s remarks were protested by members of the BJP in Lok Sabha, reported India Today. The prime minister and at least five Union ministers of cabinet rank sought to counter his speech.

Modi had even claimed that the Leader of Opposition had accused all Hindus of violence and said that this was a “serious matter”.

Gandhi, during his speech, held up images of Hindu deity Shiva, Guru Nanak and Jesus Christ, and said that all religions speak about fearlessness and non-violence.

On Tuesday, Gandhi wrote to Birla requesting that the expunged remarks be restored. He said that he was “shocked to note the manner in which considerable portion” of his speech have been taken off from the proceedings “under the garb of expunction”.

The Congress leader said that the portions expunged do not come under the ambit of Rule 380. The rule says that if the speaker is of the opinion that words that have been used in a debate are defamatory, unparliamentary or undignified, he may, while exercising discretion, order that such words be expunged.

In his letter to Birla, the Opposition leader said that he had sought to convey ground reality.

“Every member of the House who personifies the collective voice of people whom he or she represents has the freedom of speech as enshrined in Article 105(1) [freedom of speech in Parliament] of the Constitution,” he said. “It is every member’s right to raise people’s concerns on the floor of the House.”

Mallikarjun Kharge’s speech expunged

Parts of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s speech in Rajya Sabha were also expunged from Parliament’s records.

Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, had alleged on Monday that persons associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had captured the country’s education system in the past 10 years.

“The RSS has captured posts of vice chancellors of universities, professors, posts in the NCERT [National Council of Educational Research and Training] and CBSE [Central Board of Secondary Education],” alleged Kharge.

In response, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, asked whether it was a crime to be a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Dhankhar had said that Kharge’s comments would not be included in the record of the House’s proceedings.