BJP moves the privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi about Lok Sabha's speech

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BJP MP Nisikant Dubey has requested the Lok Sabha Chairman to initiate a breach of privilege motion against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi after he claimed on the floor of the parliament that Chinese troops were present on Indian soil. This triggered an uproar in Lok Sabha yesterday with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accusing the Congress leader of lying.


Mr Dubey, in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, said that Mr Gandhi "not only shamelessly distorted the historical and substantive facts in his speech but also made an attempt to ridicule our country and lowering the prestige of our Republic".


Replying to the President's address during the Budget Session, Mr Gandhi had launched an all-out attack on the government. The Modi government, he alleged in his Lok Sabha speech, had failed to boost the manufacturing sector through the 'Make in India' initiative. This was responsible for the presence of Chinese troops on Indian soil, he claimed.





Mr Rijiju intervened and accused the Congress leader of peddling fake narratives. "We would like to remind him that such kinds of frivolous act and language should not be repeatedly used. It undermines the parliamentary standards," said Mr Rijiju. He later met Speaker Om Birla to demand proof from Mr Gandhi, sources told News Agency.


The BJP MPs are considering bringing the privilege notice against Mr Gandhi if he fails to provide evidence for his claims, the sources added.


A breach of privilege notice is a legislative tool that can be invoked against members found misusing any of their rights or misleading the parliament.

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Mr Gandhi also raised the issue of unemployment in his speech and said that India has handed over production jobs to China. Claiming that Beijing was "sitting on 4,000 sq km of our land", he said the Army had contradicted the government's assertion that no land was surrendered to China.


"The reason China is inside our territory is because 'Make in India' has failed. India is refusing to produce and I'm worried India to going to give up this revolution to the Chinese, again," Mr Gandhi claimed in his speech.

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Mr Rijiju refuted this charge as well and said he cannot make such an "unsubstantiated statement" about the "relation between two countries".


Mr Gandhi also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to the US multiple times to "get an invite for the Prime Minister" for Donald Trump's inauguration as president.


Mr Jaishankar, who is a member of Rajya Sabha, countered the charges saying that the Congress leader "deliberately spoke a falsehood". "At no stage was an invitation in respect of the PM discussed. It is common knowledge that our PM does not attend such events. In fact, India is generally represented by Special Envoys," said Mr Jaishankar.