Member of Parliament and Congress leader K.C. Venugopal issued a privilege notice on March 17 in Rajya Sabha to Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing PM Modi of passing “derogatory, disrespectful, and defamatory” comments against the Gandhis.
Mr Venugopal cited the Prime Minister’s Modi speech from February 9 in his letter in response to the Motion of Gratitude to the President Address.
He expressed his discontent by saying that the “prima facie” remarks to mock the Gandhis were not only disgraceful but also scornfully abusive and defaming to the “members of the Nehru family”, particularly Sonia and Rahul, who are both Members of Parliament.
Before Venugopal’s allegation, Congress had accused Narendra Modi of not acknowledging Pandit Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister, in his speeches. The PM hurled back, stingingly pointing out how none of the heirs of Pt. Nehru adds his surname to their names.
While addressing the Rajya Sabha on February 9, PM Modi condemned the Gandhis for deliberately not inheriting PM Pt Nehru’s last name.
He interrogated the Gandhis as to why the members of the Gandhi family were embarrassed to use the Nehru last name. The list of accusations against the Gandhis did not end there.
While discussing the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, he further criticised the frequent resort to Article 356 by Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter, former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Allegedly, they invoked the article to overthrow state governments’ governance, which was not under any Congress party.
Modi targeted Congress in his address on federalism, claiming that while Nehru and Gandhi were in power at the Center, they deposed non-Congress state governments at least 90 times by invoking Article 356.
Additionally, PM Indira Gandhi availed herself of the law 50 times to overthrow the state government formed by the regional parties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a frontal attack against them when the Opposition demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) examination into the claims against the Adani Group brought by Hindenburg Research.
The Parliament grants its MPs certain privileges and immunities, individually and collectively, that they may employ in their duties. When they breach the rights and immunities, it is considered a punishable offence under Parliamentary legislation.
Each member of either House can submit a notification against another fellow member in a motion if they believe that individual has violated a privilege. In this particular instance, the purpose is to reprimand the prime minister.
When a member has reason to believe that a minister or another member has breached the privilege of the House or one or more of its members by concealing pertinent facts or presenting information that is invalid or distorted, that member may submit a motion to invoke the privilege of the House.
The whole Mr Venugopal accusing PM Modi debacle transpired amidst the BJP’s aggression against Rahul Gandhi’s ‘democracy under threat’ comment that he made in London.
The persistent demand for an apology by the ruling party BJP, from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his statement about the nation’s democracy in London, has continued to disrupt the Friday Parliament proceedings.
Many Opposition MPs formed a human chain inside Parliament on Thursday to demand a parliamentary investigation into the claims against the Adani Group. The Opposition refused to move their focus away from the charges raised by Hindenburg Research against the Adani Company.
