Congress whip Manickam Tagore gives privilege notice in Lok Sabha against Kiren Rijiju for 'misleading' House

New Delhi: Congress Whip Manickam Tagore on Tuesday submitted a breach of privilege notice against Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, charging him with "misleading" the House by attributing "false statements" to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

Tagore accused Rijiju of "blatantly misleading" the Lok Sabha on March 24 in terms of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha and urged Speaker Om Birla to initiate breach of privilege proceedings for his comments claiming that Shivakumar suggested changing Constitution to provide reservation for Muslims.

"On 24 March 2025, at about 1200 hours shortly after the House met, Kiren Rijiju attributed false statements to D K Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. D K Shivakumar has since refuted these statements as false and derogatory. Consequently, Rijiju's remarks constitute a breach of privilege and contempt of the House as it is well established that making false and misleading statements in the House is a breach of privilege and contempt," he said.

"In light of the above, I respectfully request that privilege proceedings be initiated against Kiren Rijiju in this matter," he added.

Tagore's letter comes close on the heels of Congress Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh submitting privilege notices on Monday against Union Ministers JP Nadda and Rijiju, alleging that they made “false and misleading” remarks against Shivakumar in the Upper House.

In Lok Sabha, Rijiju had remarked that a senior Congress leader, who holds a constitutional post, has said his party will change the Constitution to provide reservation to Muslims. However, he did not take the name of Shivakumar.

Protests by ruling BJP claiming that Shivakumar suggested changing the Constitution to provide for religion-based reservation rocked both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Monday even as Congress alleged that the ruling party was raising a “fake issue” to stall Parliament. Shivakumar had denied making any such statement.