India, Feb. 9 -- A group of Congress women Members of Parliament has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, rejecting allegations that their protest created a threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asserting that his absence from the House during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address was "an act of fear".

In a letter, the MPs described the Speaker's remarks against women Opposition members as "false, baseless, and defamatory", and accused the government of denying the Opposition its parliamentary rights. The letter was led by MP S Jothimani and signed by several women parliamentarians.

The controversy follows unprecedented disruptions in the Lok Sabha last week, during which the Prime Minister did not deliver...