Congress moves privilege motion against Amit Shah over remarks on Sonia Gandhi in Rajya Sabha
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh submitted a privilege motion against Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging he made defamatory remarks against Sonia Gandhi during a Rajya Sabha debate. The Congress claims Shah’s comments on the PM Relief Fund breached parliamentary privilege.
FollowCongress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday submitted a privilege notice against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of making defamatory remarks against former Congress President and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi. In his notice to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Ramesh alleged that Shah’s comments were intended to malign Gandhi’s reputation with a "premeditated motive."
The Congress leader cited Shah’s reply to the debate on the Disaster Management Bill, 2024, on March 25, 2025. "The Home Minister's statement is blatantly false and defamatory. This amounts to a breach of privilege against Smt. Sonia Gandhi. Hence, this matter constitutes a breach of privilege and contempt of the House," said Ramesh, who is also the Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha.
Quoting Shah’s speech, the Congress claimed he had remarked: "The PM Relief Fund was created during the Congress regime, and during this government’s tenure, the PM CARES Fund was started. During the Congress regime, only one family had control over the fund, and the Congress President was a member of it. The Congress President was part of a government fund—what reply will they give to the people of this country? Does no one read or see this?"
The Congress contended that Shah, without directly naming Sonia Gandhi, had clearly implied references to her, imputing motives regarding the functioning of the National Prime Minister’s Relief Fund (NPMRF). The party argued that making derogatory references to any member of the House constitutes a breach of privilege and contempt of Parliament.
The notice was filed under Rule 188 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), which deals with matters of parliamentary privilege.
Earlier, Sonia Gandhi had spoken in the Upper House about the non-fulfillment of maternity entitlements under the National Food Security Act, 2013, and the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY). She pointed out that the scheme requires an annual budget of approximately Rs 12,000 crore, yet the allocation under the Samarthya scheme for 2025-26 is only Rs 2,521 crore. She claimed this underfunding violates key provisions of a law passed by Parliament.
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