Rahul Gandhi today said he "hoped" that he would be allowed to speak in parliament on the BJP's allegation that he insulted the country abroad by questioning the state of democracy.
"But I don't think they will let me speak," the Congress leader told reporters, hours after his brief appearance in parliament.
Rahul Gandhi attended Lok Sabha for the first time since the massive row erupted over his comments in London, with at least four Union Ministers demanding his apology in and outside parliament.
"Today, within one minute of my coming to the House, they adjourned it...I went to parliament with the idea of putting what I feel on the floor of the house," he said."If the Indian democracy was functioning, I would be able to say my piece in parliament. What you are seeing is a test of the Indian democracy. Whether an MP is going to be given the same space as those four ministers were given when they raised allegations against me," said the Congress leader.
Mr Gandhi said he had spoken with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla about permission to speak in the house.
"I asked the Speaker for time to speak in the House. It is my right to speak on the floor of the House," he said, claiming that Mr Birla was "noncommittal" and "smiled".
The Congress leader said the row over his London remarks was "just a distraction" from the questions he had raised in his speech in parliament last month. "I have a fundamental question about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's relationship with Gautam Adani. The government and the PM are scared about the Adani issue, therefore this entire controversy has been prepared," he said.
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