File photo: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi
NEW DELHI: Accusing leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of demeaning the Parliament’s dignity and making offensive remarks against citizens with his “idiots” and “andhbhakts” jibes in Lok Sabha, BJP on Thursday submitted a notice of “breach of privilege and contempt of the House” against him with Speaker Om Birla and has sought his unconditional apology to the House and Union home minister Amit Shah.”No allegation of a defamatory or incriminatory nature shall be made by a member against any person unless the member has given adequate advance notice to the Speaker and also to the minister concerned,” BJP MP Anurag Thakur wrote to Birla citing Lok Sabha rules and urging the matter be sent to the privilege committee for inquiry as Rahul violated them.
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BJP chief whip Sanjay Jaiswal has also submitted a separate complaint to Birla against the LoP, seeking action against him for allegedly violating several rules guiding an MP’s conduct in LS.Jaiswal said, “While strong criticism of the govt policy is a legitimate and essential feature of parliamentary democracy, personal attacks and the use of language that is insulting, defamatory or otherwise unparliamentary cannot be permitted within the proceedings of this august House.”Rahul in his address Wednesday, during discussion on a bill that proposes more stringent punishment against the guilty in exam paper leaks, had held Shah responsible for the alleged police’s excesses against protesters on July 20, drawing vehement protest from the treasury members and his speech was cut short as he stuck to the charge.Some of his remarks were deemed unparliamentary and expunged from the records.Thakur noted that Speaker Om Birla repeatedly “warned” Rahul but he repeated the unparliamentary words.
