No privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi, but words may be expunged

The Centre will not move a privilege motion against LoP Rahul Gandhi, but remarks from his speech are likely to be expunged for being unauthenticated. This follows earlier statements by Minister Kiren Rijiju that the BJP would move a notice.

The Centre will not move a privilege motion against Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, though the words used in his speech delivered on Wednesday are likely to be expunged as the allegations made by him were not authenticated, sources said.

BJP's Stance on Privilege Motion

This comes a day after Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that BJP members in the Lok Sabha would move a privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi for "misleading the House and making baseless statements."

He said Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has made baseless and false allegations against the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We are going to file a privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi for misleading the House and also making baseless statements. There are very clear-cut rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. When a member intends to make serious charges against another member, then you have to give notice and also substantiate the allegation," he said.

"I have requested that Rahul Gandhi be called to the floor of the House to authenticate the points he has made. Rahul Gandhi has made useless and false allegations against the government, against the Prime Minister, saying that the Prime Minister has sold India and Indian interests. On what basis? He has made a serious allegation against Hardeep Singh Puri without giving any notice," he added.

Rahul Gandhi's Allegations

Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi questioned why industrialist Anil Ambani was not in jail, alleging that his name appeared in the Epstein-related files. He alleged that there was pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the India-US nuclear deal and "no PM would do what has happened in terms of "data, farmers, energy security and defence".

"I have said that I will authenticate the data I have. There are Department of Justice files on Epstein files naming Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani. In an ongoing case against Adani, summons have been issued. The government of India has not responded for the last 18 months. There is direct pressure on the Prime Minister. The main thing is that no PM would do this in a normal situation. In a normal situation, no PM would do what has happened in terms of data, farmers, energy security and defence. Someone would do this only when there is a certain grip on them," Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)