Kiren Rijiju (L); Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: Congress Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh on Monday submitted privilege notices against Union Ministers J P Nadda and Kiren Rijiju, alleging that they made “false and misleading” remarks against Congress and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar by attributing statements that were not made by him.
While raising the issue in Rajya Sabha, Nadda had alleged that Congress will snatch quota benefits of SCs, STs and OBCs and give it to Muslims and that the party would change the Constitution.
Rijiju had in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha claimed that Shivakumar had made a statement that the Constitution will be changed to enable reservation for Muslims, against the backdrop of possible judicial challenge to 4 per cent quota to the minority community in contracts in Karnataka.
In his letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, the senior Congress MP said Nadda’s comments were “completely false, lack of factual basis and have been made with a premeditated motive to defame” the Congress and its leaders.
On Rijiju, he said the Minister had “blatantly misled” the House by attributing “some false statements” to Shivakumar, which the latter has refuted as “false and derogatory”.
“It is well established that it is a breach of privilege and contempt of the House to make false and misleading statements in the House,” Ramesh said in separate letters, demanding initiation of breach of privilege proceedings against Nadda and Rijiju. The issue had rocked Parliament on Monday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge posted on ‘X’, “mone of our leaders or ministers have talked about changing the Constitution. Only the BJP-RSS leaders have repeatedly talked about the Constitution made by Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar.”
He claimed that the BJP stalled the Parliament as part of a conspiracy so that the issue of alleged corruption by a judge could not be debated in Parliament.
Earlier in the day, Congress accused the BJP of raising a "fake issue" to stall Parliament and prevent a discussion on the conduct of Justice Yashwant Varma from whose house burnt cash was recovered after a fire incident.
Ramesh posted on 'X', "today the BJP came up with a completely fake issue to get Parliament adjourned so that the very serious issue of Justice Yashwant Varma's conduct does not get discussed."
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the government seems to have made up its mind that it does not want the House to function and finds some excuse or the other to create a ruckus. “It's been many days now. They find some excuse or the other to (create ruckus),” she told reporters.
Congress Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore posted on ‘X’, “unfortunate to see Lok Sabha adjourned for the ruckus by BJP MPs while opposition wanted the House to function. New India.”