Nishikant Dubey demands termination of Rahul's Lok Sabha membership

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday appeared before the Lok Sabha Privilege Committee and demanded the termination of the Lok Sabha membership of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, sources said.

Nishikant Dubey sought a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi for making a "misleading, derogatory, unparliamentary and incriminatory" statement during a discussion on the motion of thanks on the President's Address.

Lok Sabha MP Sunil Singh asked Dubey to appear as a witness in the committee. Apart from panel chief, Sunil Singh, other members from the committee who were present today include TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, K Suresh from Congress, CP Joshi, Dilip Ghosh, Raju Bista and Ganesh Singh of BJP.

MPs like K Suresh and Kalyan Banerjee argued that there was no ground for any such breach as the speech by the Wayanad MP was already expunged.

According to the sources, DMK, MP TR Baalu wasn’t present before the committee today but he has written to the panel saying that there was no privilege that would stand any argument against Rahul.

In his argument on the issue, Dubey first stated that even if the debate was in the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, Rahul Gandhi’s reply was largely about Gautam Adani and in fact in his speech, Adani was mentioned by Rahul Gandhi at least 75 times.

Further, the Jharkhand MP presented his case stating that three privilege notices needed to be moved against Gandhi. One, Under Rule 352 (2), an MP can comment on a fellow parliamentarian only with prior notice and without the approval of the Speaker. This was breached by Rahul by commenting on PM Modi, sources said.

Secondly, Dubey also quoted the incident in 1976 when Subramanian Swamy was dismissed from Rajya Sabha – when allegations were made against Parliament and PM. Dubey stated that the same is the case now – casting aspersions on the conduct of the Prime Minister is undermining democracy.

Thirdly, Dubey authenticated that the speech of Rahul Gandhi was expunged but when he checked on the social media, handles of Gandhi on Twitter and YouTube channels still had the expunged speech and tweets. This itself undermines the authority and discretion of the Speaker, the sources further said.

“Undermining the authority and position of any state leader or head of state itself accounts to compromise on national interest,” sources quoted Dubey as saying.

Dubey argued that allegations made by Gandhi viz-a-viz Adani projects listed in Israel and Bangladesh are an act against the interest of India, sources said that this was another point that Dubey argued.

Nishikant Dubey also authenticated the power plant agreement between India and Bangladesh in 2011 between Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“Therefore, any argument being made by the Congress that the power plant by the Adani group was given to Bangladesh under the Modi regime was false,” the BJP MP said.

“Therefore Nishikant Dubey demands the termination of the Lok Sabha membership of Rahul Gandhi through his privilege motion,” sources said.

In the coming days, Rahul Gandhi is likely to be asked by the panel to depose before it in connection with the privilege motion.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on February 8, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker to move a breach of privilege motion notice against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, a day after his speech in Lok Sabha where he made certain allegations about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his association with industrialist Gautam Adani.

A similar notice was also sent to Lok Sabha Speaker by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on February 8, Dubey had said, “These statements are misleading, derogatory, indecent, unparliamentary, undignified and incriminatory in nature to the dignity of the House and Prime Minister being a Member of Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi, despite making a statement in the House that he would provide documentary evidence has not submitted any duly authenticated document for supporting his statements.”

Dubey further said the Congress MP had made a statement which amounts to misleading the House in the absence of documentary evidence besides being a reflection upon the Prime Minister.

“This conduct is in clear violation of the privileges of the House and its members besides being a clear case of contempt of the House. I request you to take immediate action against Rahul Gandhi for breach of privilege and contempt of House,” the letter read.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had launched a strong attack on the government in the wake of the Hindenburg-Adani row linking the rise of the Adani group to that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleging that “rules were changed” in some sectors to favour the businessman.

Rahul Gandhi, who was the first opposition leader to speak during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha, said the relationship with Gautam Adani began many years ago when Narendra Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister and added that “real magic” started after 2014 and the businessman rose from 609th to second spot globally in the rich list.

“Relationships begin many years ago when Narendra Modi was Gujarat’s Chief Minister…one man stood shoulder to shoulder with PM Modi, he was loyal to the PM and helped Mr Modi construct the idea of a ‘Resurgent Gujarat’. The real magic began when PM Modi reached the national capital in 2014,” Rahul Gandhi said addressing the Lok Sabha.

The BJP rejected Rahul Gandhi’s allegations both inside and outside the House.