'Restricted to a cage': Rahul Gandhi asks LS Speaker to end restrictions on media in Parliament

Birla reminded Gandhi about the rules of procedures of Parliament and said such issues should be discussed with him in person and not be raised on the floor of the House.

New Delhi: Restrictions on the movement of the media in the Parliament house on Monday evoked strong reactions with Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi raising the issue during his intervention in the Budget debate.

A political row broke out in Parliament on Monday with the government restricting the access of the media to a glass enclosure in the Parliament complex, prompting Rahul Gandhi to urge Speaker Om Birla to take the restrictions back. Birla then held an extensive meeting with several reporters, and promised to ease their access in the Parliament complex. 

Sources in the government said that the move was prompted by some reporters taking bytes of farmers that Gandhi had brought to Parliament at the Makar Dwar, an area where the media is typically not allowed. On Monday, after reporters were asked to stay within the glass enclosure – which is built to facilitate accredited reporters and videographers – several scribes carried out an impromptu protest, refusing to take bytes.

Gandhi met the protesting reporters, and so did Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh and Dimple Yadav, Congress’ Karti Chidambaram, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, among other leaders. Sources said that some leaders even took it to the government. 

Birla then held a meeting with the reporters, where he asked them of their grievances and said that the Lok Sabha Secretariat is going to give permanent passes to reporters, as opposed to the temporary passes. He also said that the LS Secretariat is rebuilding the glass enclosure to double its size to include more amenities, and urged the media to not take bytes at the restricted area outside Makar Dwar. He also promised other facilities related to entry and exit of reporters. 

During his speech, Gandhi urged Birla to remove reporters from “cages”. “The bechare (poor) reporters have asked me to urge you,” Gandhi said, to which Birla promptly said that Gandhi should not use that word to describe reporters. 

Birla then said that the functioning of the Parliament is his mandate and Gandhi should bring issues like this to the Chair in person.