BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has sought the termination of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s membership from the Lok Sabha.
Mr. Dubey was deposing before the Privileges Committee of the Lower House, which is deliberating over a notice moved by him against Mr. Gandhi for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech on February 6.
Eighteen portions of Mr. Gandhi’s speech were expunged on the orders of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Mr. Dubey, according to sources, argued that, ignoring the Speaker’s order, the entire speech, including the portions that were culled out, was running on Congress and Mr. Gandhi’s official YouTube channels. This, he said, was a direct challenge to the Speaker’s authority.
Citing the Lok Sabha rules, he said Mr. Gandhi should have given a prior notice before making allegations against Mr. Modi.
He has also cited the past precedents including a 1976 case where Subramanian Swamy was expelled from the Rajya Sabha.
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The Upper House in the 1976 instance had investigated Mr. Swamy for allegedly propagating “anti-Indian propaganda calculated to bring the Parliament and the country’s democratic institutions into disrepute”
The committee will also call Mr. Gandhi to depose to hear his side of the story. On the panel’s directions, he has already submitted a detailed reply to Mr. Dubey’s notice.
In the reply, running into several pages, the Congress leader argued that “freedom of speech” within Parliament was of utmost importance.
Mr. Gandhi said, “We can hardly call ourselves a democracy if we can’t raise issues of public importance in Parliament.” He also dismissed the charges made by Mr. Dubey as “vague and unspecific”.
