Rahul asked to respond by Feb 15 to notices on remarks on Modi

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been asked to reply to breach of privilege notices regarding his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi by February 15.

The breach of privilege notices was served on the Congress MP by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey after Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Prime Minister had connections with billionaire Gautam Adani.

Rahul Gandhi made the accusation against the Prime Minister during his speech in Lok Sabha while participating in the discussion on motion of thanks on President's address.

The Congress MP had questioned Prime Minister Modi's links with Adani, while pointing out at the businessman's sudden rise in fortune after the BJP-led NDA came to power in 2014.

He had accused the Prime Minister of 'crony capitalism'.

According to Lok Sabha secretariat sources, the notices seek a response from the Congress leader for making "misleading, derogatory, unparliamentary, and incriminatory statements" during a discussion on the President's address in Lok Sabha on February 7.

In a letter dated February 10, the secretariat asked Rahul Gandhi to furnish his reply on the notices by February 15.

On February 8, Dubey had written to Speaker Om Birla, giving a notice of breach of privilege against Rahul Gandhi. The notice had accused the Congress leader of levelling allegations against Prime Minister Modi without any "documentary evidence" and of "misleading the house".