The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said it would move a privilege motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday for “misleading” the House by claiming MPs were not bribed during the July 2008 trust vote even though the Parliamentary probe committee said that money was paid.
“BJP will move a Privilege Motion against the Prime Minister tomorrow in the Lok Sabha for misleading the House on the July 2008 trust vote. He (PM) said in the House last week that no bribe was paid while the Kishore Chandra Deo committee has clearly stated that bribe was paid,” party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj is likely to move the Privilege Motion.
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Incidentally, as a counter to this, the ruling Congress has declared it will move a Privilege Motion against Ms. Swaraj for allegedly defying Speaker Meira Kumar last week by trying to seek clarifications from the Prime Minister after his statement on the revelations made by WikiLeaks on the cash-for-vote scam.
As per Parliament rules, clarifications cannot be sought from a Minister or the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha after he/she makes a statement on the demand of the opposition. This provision is there only in the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP-led NDA will also demand a discussion in the Lok Sabha under Rule 193 (which does not entail voting).
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“Sushma Swaraj and Yashwant Sinha from the BJP and Sharad Yadav from JD(U) will demand discussion under Rule 193.
If the government wants Lok Sabha to run, it would agree as soon as the House meets for the day,” Mr. Hussain said.
Since the Question Hour has been suspended for the remaining period of the ongoing budget session, NDA wants the discussion to start at 11 a.m.
“The Leaders of Opposition in both the Houses were not allowed to speak after the Prime Minister made his statement.
Hence we are making the demand for a debate,” Mr. Hussain said.