BJP MPs file privilege notices against Sonia Gandhi, Pappu Yadav over remarks on President

Led by Rajya Sabha MP Sumer Singh Solanki, they met Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and sought disciplinary action against Gandhi, contending her remarks lowered the dignity of the office of the President.

New Delhi: A group of BJP MPs from the tribal community filed a breach of privilege notice on Monday against Congress parliamentary party leader Sonia Gandhi for using "derogatory and slanderous" words against President Droupadi Murmu.

Led by Sumer Singh Solanki, the BJP MPs met Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and sought disciplinary action against Gandhi, a Rajya Sabha member, contending her remarks lowered the dignity of the office of the President.

The notice was filed over Gandhi's remark on President Murmu after her address to a joint sitting of Parliament on Friday. In a video clip, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were seen discussing the speech in the Parliament complex.

"The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end...she could hardly speak, poor thing," Sonia Gandhi was heard saying in the video doing the rounds on social media.

On Monday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Rajya Sabha chairman gave a patient hearing to the BJP MPs, took serious cognizance (of their grievance) and also made "some comments”.

“Sonia Gandhi used English words like poor lady and tired which means ‘bechari’ and 'thaki hui' in Hindi if you translate,” Rijiju told reporters in Parliament complex.

The BJP MPs said in the notice that the remarks are "a clear manifestation of elitist and anti-tribal mindset of Smt. Gandhi who is yet to understand the struggle and sensitivity of a tribal poor".

"We write this with great dismay about certain unparliamentary, derogatory and demeaning remarks recently made by Sonia Gandhi, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, against the Hon'ble President of India, which warrant serious consideration and disciplinary action.

"It is with deep concern that we highlight this statement, which appears to demean the stature and dignity of the President of India, the highest constitutional authority of our nation," they said in the notice.

The BJP MPs said such remarks not only undermine the dignity of the office but also violate the sanctity of parliamentary procedures and conventions.

A separate breach of privilege notice was also submitted by 22 parliamentarians from tribal communities, including Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday, seeking action against Independent MP Pappu Yadav for his remarks against Murmu.

They termed his remarks "insulting and anti-tribal".

The delegation was led by BJP MP and former Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste.

Rijiju said the tribal MPs have submitted a complaint against Yadav to the Lok Sabha Speaker, taking “serious exception” over his remarks.

“Pappu Yadav called the President’s speech a love letter. Just imagine (what he said)," the parliamentary affairs minister told reporters.