Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, on Friday objected to the expunction of portions of his speech on the discussion on the President’s address and called the “selective removal” of his criticism of the government’s policies a violation of democracy and freedom of speech.

Kharge spoke on the discussion on the motion of thanks on the presidential address on February 4. The President’s address provides an opportunity to raise important issues facing the nation, he said.

“I spoke on social justice, parliamentary democracy. But I found the the major portion of my speech, uploaded on the Rajya Sabha website, has been expunged without any justification. I had highlighted the way the parliamentary system was working in India. I also discussed the Prime Minister’s policies. It is my responsibility to discuss policies which are adversely impacting the people,” Kharge said.

The Congress veteran said he had been involved in the parliamentary system for over five decades. “I have always followed parliamentary rules and respected the dignity of Parliament. I have always maintained decency and decorum in my talks. There are no unparliamentary or defamatory words in the expunged portion of my speech. My views were purely related to the subject. To remove such a portion from my speech is against democracy and freedom of speech,” Kharge said.

He appealed to Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan to reconsider the expunction, else he would make public the unrecorded version.