The central government will not move a privilege motion against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, although the words used in his speech on Wednesday are likely to be deleted as the allegations made by him have not been proven.
The incident comes a day after Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that BJP members in the Lok Sabha will move a privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi for “misleading the House and making baseless statements”.
He said that Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has made baseless and false allegations against the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We are going to file a privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi for misleading the House,” he said.
“There are very clear rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. When a member wants to make a serious allegation against another member, he has to give notice and also have to prove the allegation,” he said.
Rijiju said, “I have requested that Rahul Gandhi be called to the House so that he can prove the points raised by him. Rahul Gandhi has made baseless and false allegations against the government and the Prime Minister, he says that the Prime Minister has sold India and Indian interests. On what basis? He has made serious allegations against Hardeep Singh Puri without providing any evidence.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi raised questions as to why industrialist Anil Ambani was not in jail, alleging that his name had appeared in files related to Epstein.
He alleged that there was pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the India-US nuclear deal and “no Prime Minister will do what has happened in terms of data, farmers, energy security and defence”.
Rahul Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament, “I have said that I will verify the authenticity of the data I have. The Justice Department has files related to the Epstein cases in which the names of Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani are named. Summons have been issued in an ongoing case against Adani.”
He said, “The Government of India has not given any response for the last 18 months. There is direct pressure on the Prime Minister. The main thing is that under normal circumstances no Prime Minister would do this. Under normal circumstances no Prime Minister would do what has happened in the case of data, farmers, energy security and defence. A person will do this only if he has some kind of control over him.”
