BJP will initiate privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi for 'misleading House': Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi: Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said that the BJP Parliamentary party is initiating a privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi for his utterances during the Budget speech in Lok Sabha.

Rijiju told reporters that the notice will be filed against Gandhi for “misleading the House” and “making baseless statements”. “The rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha clearly states that when a member intends to make serious charges or allegations against another member, you have to make a notice and substantiate the allegation,” Rijiju said.

Rijiju pointed at Gandhi’s allegations against Union minister Hardeep Puri whose name surfaced in the Epstein Files released by the United States’ Department of Justice, and called it “baseless”.

Union minister Hardeep Puri on his part held a press conference where he said that he had met Epstein a few times, but as part of "peace meetings".

“Just three-four references (to his name) out of three million emails…I met Epstein on a few occasions as part of a delegation, exchanging just one e-mail. Our interactions had nothing to do (with Epstein’s crimes),” Puri said.

“I had no interest in Epstein’s activities. For them, I was not the right person,” Puri said. He added that Epstein had called him “two-faced” and that Rahul Gandhi should read the e-mail.