Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday alleged that he had "concrete information" that some members from the Congress party were planning to carry out an "unforeseen act" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which made him request the leader not to attend the session.
Thanking PM Modi for acceding to his request and not turning up at the Parliament to deliver the customary reply to Motion of Thanks on the President's address on Thursday, the Speaker also said that if such an incident had taken place, it would have been detrimental to the country's democratic traditions.
Speaking after the House reassembled at 3 PM, after multiple adjournments due to protests, the Speaker lashed out at opposition members and said their conduct in the House on Wednesday was "like a black spot."
"With sadness I have to inform that some members displayed such behaviour in the House on Wednesday that had never been witnessed in its history," he said.
Birla said the dignity of the chair has been established in the Constitution.
"Never in history have political differences been dragged to the House. The conduct of the opposition members in the office of the Speaker was not appropriate and in fact it was like a black spot," he said.
"When the Leader of the House was to reply (to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address), I had concrete information that many members of the Congress party could carry out an unexpected act by reaching the spot where the prime minister sits," he alleged.
"If this incident had taken place, this would have left the democratic traditions of the country in shreds. To avoid this, I requested the PM to not come to the House and as the Speaker it was my responsibility to uphold the dignity of the House," Birla claimed.
He said unpleasent scenes were avoided because Modi did not come to the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Birla later adjourned the House for the day as opposition members raised slogans and protested.
Opposition parties, led by the Congress has been protesting inside and outside the Parliament against the Speaker refusing to allow Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to speak on former Army Chief General MM Naravane's unpublished 'memoir', in which he makes some statements involving PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in connection with the 2020 India-China standoff.
Eight Congress MPs were suspended by the Speaker on Tuesday, amid continuous protests demanding to let the LoP speak on the issue.
In a letter to the Speaker, Rahul Gandhi called the move to prevent him from speaking on the President's address "a blot on our democracy" and registered "strongest protest" against the move.
"Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha not only violates this convention, but also gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security," he wrote.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi told reporters that he was not allowed to cite from Naravane's unpublished book because it indicts Modi and Rajnath for "letting down" the army during the 2020 conflict with China.
"Naravane ji has written about the prime minister and Rajnath Singh ji clearly in his book, which has appeared in an article, and I am quoting from that article. They are scared because if it comes out, the reality of Narendra Modi ji and Rajnath Singh ji will be revealed. What happened to the 56-inch chest when China was before us and advancing?" Gandhi said.