New Delhi, Feb 2 (NationPress) The Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, openly defied Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's directive to only reference "authentic" sources within the House, continuing to spotlight the Ladakh situation, as cited in the unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Narvane (Retd.).

Disorder broke out in the House when Gandhi brought up the India-China standoff, which was met with interruptions from the treasury benches, alleging it contravened House rules.

During the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, Gandhi asserted that his source is "authentic" and included quotations from General M.M. Naravane's unpublished memoirs, alleging that the government is "trying to stop the publication of his book".

Referencing a magazine that supposedly quoted the former Army chief, Gandhi stated, "it mentioned Rajnath Singh".

Opposition members began to protest, claiming that the LoP was being "not allowed" to speak in the House.

Gandhi persisted in raising the matter, reiterating that his source, a magazine, is indeed authentic, and he will continue to address the issue, citing the publication.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh interrupted Gandhi again, asking, "If the book exists and its contents were correct, it would definitely have been published. If someone had stopped its publication, then if the stop was wrongly imposed, Mr. Naravane could have obtained a court order. Why didn't they seek a court order?"

The Speaker reiterated his ruling, to which Gandhi responded, "Ok, I will not quote the magazine now."

"There was a border; on the border, there were forces of some country that were entering that border. Four tanks were entering the Kailash range," Gandhi continued, but was interrupted once more.

The turmoil persisted in the Lok Sabha, prompting Gandhi to ask, "Speaker Sir, please tell me what I should say."

Speaker Birla replied, "I am not your advisor, but as a Speaker, it is my responsibility that the House functions according to rules and procedures, and that the discussion remains on the subject under consideration. When the treasury benches were wandering from the subject, I advised them also to do the same."

Gandhi reiterated his claim that the Chinese tanks were "entering our territory".

In response, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated, "We have said earlier that we all want to listen peacefully… The House runs according to rules. When the Leader of Opposition himself does not recognize the ruling side, there should also be a discussion on what to do with such members."

Gandhi countered, "You (Speaker Birla) asked him that I cannot quote a book. I said ok then I will raise the issue between India and China. You told me that I cannot say anything about it as it's against the rules. I want to ask, which rule states that I cannot raise the India-China issue in the Parliament?"

Birla responded, "You want to speak on the president's address; in it, there is no specific mention of the India-China issue."

"So, Sir, you want to say that there is no relation to the international issue in the President's address?" Gandhi added.

Birla reminded Gandhi to uphold his responsibilities as the LoP and "speak accordingly". "I do not think that you want to discuss anything here today," he concluded.

When Gandhi refused to relent, the Speaker called upon Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav to speak.