There was nothing unparliamentary in what Rahul Gandhi said in the Parliament, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Monday, reacting to the Lok Sabha Secretariat's notice.
Talking to the media, here in the national capital, Kharge said, "Whatever Rahul Gandhi had mentioned in the Parliament was already in the public domain and there is nothing unparliamentary about this. So he will respond to the notice accordingly."
Incidentally, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha has also called a meeting of like-minded opposition parties ahead of the last day of the Budget session.
"Since today is the last day (of the first part of the Budget session) in the Parliament, we will discuss how we can resolve this Adani issue and what our chairman will be doing. Will also seek the opinion of the leaders of other parties," he said.
Notably, Lok Sabha Secretariat has sought Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's reply on the breach of privilege notice given against him by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey over "misleading, derogatory, unparliamentary and incriminatory statements" during a discussion of the motion of thanks on the President's address.
Rahul Gandhi has been asked to furnish his reply by February 15 for consideration by the Lok Sabha Speaker.
The communication by the Privileges and Ethics Branch of the Lok Sabha Secretariat was sent to Rahul Gandhi on February 10.
"I am to request you kindly to furnish your reply/comments in the matter by February 15, 2023," said the letter written by a Lok Sabha official.
Rahul Gandhi, in his speech in the Lok Sabha on February 7, made several allegations against the government over the Hindenburg-Adani row.
In his letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Dubey said the Congress MP made certain "unverified, incriminatory and defamatory statements" in contravention of the rules. He said Rahul Gandhi made these against Prime Minister Narendra Modi "without giving advance notice to the Speaker and also to the Prime Minister as required under Rule 353".
"These statements are misleading, derogatory, indecent, unparliamentary, undignified and incriminatory in nature to the dignity of the House and Prime Minister being a Member of Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi, despite making a statement in the House that he would provide documentary evidence, has not submitted any duly authenticated document for supporting his statements," Dubey wrote.
"As such, he has made a statement which amounts to misleading the House in the absence of any documentary evidence besides being a reflection upon the Prime Minister. This conduct is in clear violation of privileges of the House and its members besides being a clear case of contempt of the House," the BJP MP added.
Joshi, who wrote a similar letter, said Rahul Gandhi's remarks are liable to be expunged by the Speaker as these are "derogatory, indecent, unparliamentary and undignified".
( With inputs from ANI )
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