New Delhi, March 11 Taking a swipe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Congress on Wednesday said that one of his “favorite words” uttered again in the Lok Sabha has been expunged, and alleged that the "G2 are masters of abuse and defamation".
The attack on Shah came after an opposition move to remove Om Birla as the Lok Sabha speaker was defeated in the Lower House after a heated debate.
The Congress frequently uses the term ‘G2’ to take swipes at Home Minister Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who are both from Gujarat.
Responding to the debate, Shah trashed Rahul Gandhi's contention that he was not allowed to speak in the House, saying the Congress leader was frequently abroad during sessions and skipped discussions willfully as he “does not want to speak”.
The opposition members rushed to the Well of the House, protesting and raising slogans as the home minister was concluding his speech at the end of the two-day-long debate on the resolution.
They also demanded an apology for Shah’s certain remarks, which they claimed were "offensive".
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, "One of the Home Minister's favourite words uttered again today in the Lok Sabha has been expunged. It had previously been used and expunged on December 10, 2025."
On February 6, 2020, a word used by the prime minister in the Rajya Sabha had also been expunged, Ramesh said.
"G2 are Masters of Abuse and Defamation," he said in the post.
Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation, K C Venugopal, said, "Mr Home Minister, the issue for discussion is the unconstitutional and anti-democratic conduct of the speaker, not whether LoP Rahul Gandhi is in the House or not.”
“And where is the prime minister when such a serious issue is being debated? Why has he deserted the House?” he asked.
“Not only has the prime minister given this session a miss, but he was also absent on multiple critical occasions – including the vote of thanks to the president and the GST Bill; he did not vote on the Triple Talaq Bill either,” Venugopal alleged.
Does that not show how little he cares about Parliamentary democracy, the Congress leader asked.
"If the BJP had an ounce of concern for democracy beyond lip service, they would give space to the speaker to carry out his duties neutrally and impartially," Venugopal said.
Referring to the "objectionable" words used by Shah in Parliament on Wednesday, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi said the home minister was not stopped by the Chair.
On critical remarks by the treasury benches against Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka quipped that the no-confidence motion was against the speaker, and not the leader of the opposition.
Earlier, as the opposition MPs protested against Shah's remarks, Jagdambika Pal, who was in the Chair, urged them to take their seats so that he could put the motion to a vote.
Amid the din, the resolution was rejected by a voice vote, following which Pal adjourned the House for the day.
Speaker Birla was not present in the House during the entire period of the debate.
Earlier, interjecting in the debate, Rahul Gandhi said he was stopped from speaking in the Lok Sabha on multiple occasions and asserted that the House does not represent one party but the whole country.
Responding to the debate, Shah hit out at the opposition for bringing the motion, and asserted that the House will be run by its rules, and not by the rules of a party.
"We never suppressed the voice of the opposition. It was suppressed during the Emergency when leaders were put in jail. False propaganda is being spread that opposition leaders are not allowed to speak. Rahul Gandhi said he is not allowed to speak. But the fact is he doesn't want to speak in the Lok Sabha," Shah said.
The home minister also shared Rahul Gandhi's attendance record in the House and other statistics to rebut the allegations of bias levelled against Speaker Birla.
Shah claimed that foreign trips were a major reason for Rahul Gandhi's relatively low attendance in Parliament sessions.