India
‘Chairman’s inclination was…’: Congress alleges breach of privilege procedure against PM Modi over apparent reference to Hamid Ansari | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Congress has continued its offensive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s speech in Parliament last week. The grand old party has now tried breach of privilege proceedings against the Prime Minister in Rajya Sabha because he allegedly made “derogatory” comments against Hamid Ansariformer chairman of the Senate.
“I wish to bring to your notice a serious incident of breach of privilege and contempt of the House by the Prime Minister of India. On July 2, 2024, the Prime Minister, while responding to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha, inter alia, stated: ‘No matter how many numbers they claim, when we came in 2014, our strength in the Rajya Sabha was very low and the inclination of the Speaker was somewhat on the other side’,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote in a letter to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankar.
On Saturday, Congress charged Prime Minister Modi of violating all parliamentary norms by accusing the then Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari of “leaning” towards the opposition when the BJP came to power in 2014.
In his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s speech on July 2, PM Modi had said, “No matter how many numbers they claim, when we came in 2014, our strength in the Rajya Sabha was very low, and the inclination of the Chairman was somewhat on the other side. But we have not deviated from our resolve to serve the country with pride. I want to tell the people of the country that the decision you have taken, the mandate you have given us to serve, neither Modi nor this government will be afraid of such obstacles. We will fulfil the resolutions that we have set out to achieve.”
The prime minister did not mention any names, but former Vice President Ansari was the chairman of the Rajya Sabha from August 2012 to August 2017.
In his July 8 letter to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh wrote: “The Prime Minister’s accusation against Dr Hamid Ansari that he is ‘leaning’ towards the Opposition is totally unacceptable and grossly derogatory to say the least. Moreover, the accusation is completely false.”
Incidentally, this is not the first time that the Prime Minister has targeted former Vice President Ansari, Ramesh said in his letter. He also pointed out that on August 10, 2017, in his farewell speech at Ansari’s retirement at the Balayogi Auditorium, the Prime Minister had “maliciously” alluded to the then outgoing President’s previous diplomatic postings.
“No Prime Minister has ever attacked a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in the manner in which Shri Narendra Modi has done,” the Congress leader alleged, adding, “The Prime Minister has violated all parliamentary norms and rules of decency and, in fact, has set a new low in the dignity of the office of the Prime Minister of India.”
“Such defamatory remarks made on the floor of Lok Sabha, attributing derogatory motives to the former Chairman of Rajya Sabha when he was not present to defend himself, amount to serious contempt and disrespect for the high office of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, and also for the Rajya Sabha itself. I, therefore, request for privilege proceedings against the Prime Minister in this matter,” Ramesh said in his letter to Dhankhar.
‘Factually incorrect, inaccurate and misleading statements’
This is the second time that the Congress has attacked Prime Minister Modi over his response to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s speech in Parliament.
Earlier on June 4, Congress MP Manickam Tagore had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla pointing out “factually incorrect, inaccurate and misleading statements” made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP MP Anurag Thakur in the House of Representatives and seeking appropriate action in the matter.
The Congress MP said that in his reply to the motion of thanks to the President, Prime Minister Modi had said that the Congress had made a “false promise” of Rs 8,500 per month to women, while the party’s promise was contingent on victory and formation of a government.
He also disputed PM Modi’s claim that Congress vote share has fallen in 16 states where it was the only one to appeal. “This is factually incorrect. Congress vote share has increased in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Telangana etc,” Tagore was quoted as saying in his letter to Om Birla.
The Congressman termed Modi’s remarks that there are “no bulletproof vests” as “grossly misleading”. [were provided] for the army during the Congress era”. “There was a shortage of jackets, not that there were no jackets. Even the police had bulletproof jackets, like in the Mumbai attacks,” Tagore said.
He also challenged the Prime Minister over the claim that Congress had not supplied fighter jets to the army.
(With input from agencies)
“I wish to bring to your notice a serious incident of breach of privilege and contempt of the House by the Prime Minister of India. On July 2, 2024, the Prime Minister, while responding to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha, inter alia, stated: ‘No matter how many numbers they claim, when we came in 2014, our strength in the Rajya Sabha was very low and the inclination of the Speaker was somewhat on the other side’,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote in a letter to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankar.
On Saturday, Congress charged Prime Minister Modi of violating all parliamentary norms by accusing the then Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari of “leaning” towards the opposition when the BJP came to power in 2014.
In his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s speech on July 2, PM Modi had said, “No matter how many numbers they claim, when we came in 2014, our strength in the Rajya Sabha was very low, and the inclination of the Chairman was somewhat on the other side. But we have not deviated from our resolve to serve the country with pride. I want to tell the people of the country that the decision you have taken, the mandate you have given us to serve, neither Modi nor this government will be afraid of such obstacles. We will fulfil the resolutions that we have set out to achieve.”
The prime minister did not mention any names, but former Vice President Ansari was the chairman of the Rajya Sabha from August 2012 to August 2017.
In his July 8 letter to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh wrote: “The Prime Minister’s accusation against Dr Hamid Ansari that he is ‘leaning’ towards the Opposition is totally unacceptable and grossly derogatory to say the least. Moreover, the accusation is completely false.”
Incidentally, this is not the first time that the Prime Minister has targeted former Vice President Ansari, Ramesh said in his letter. He also pointed out that on August 10, 2017, in his farewell speech at Ansari’s retirement at the Balayogi Auditorium, the Prime Minister had “maliciously” alluded to the then outgoing President’s previous diplomatic postings.
“No Prime Minister has ever attacked a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in the manner in which Shri Narendra Modi has done,” the Congress leader alleged, adding, “The Prime Minister has violated all parliamentary norms and rules of decency and, in fact, has set a new low in the dignity of the office of the Prime Minister of India.”
“Such defamatory remarks made on the floor of Lok Sabha, attributing derogatory motives to the former Chairman of Rajya Sabha when he was not present to defend himself, amount to serious contempt and disrespect for the high office of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, and also for the Rajya Sabha itself. I, therefore, request for privilege proceedings against the Prime Minister in this matter,” Ramesh said in his letter to Dhankhar.
‘Factually incorrect, inaccurate and misleading statements’
This is the second time that the Congress has attacked Prime Minister Modi over his response to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s speech in Parliament.
Earlier on June 4, Congress MP Manickam Tagore had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla pointing out “factually incorrect, inaccurate and misleading statements” made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP MP Anurag Thakur in the House of Representatives and seeking appropriate action in the matter.
The Congress MP said that in his reply to the motion of thanks to the President, Prime Minister Modi had said that the Congress had made a “false promise” of Rs 8,500 per month to women, while the party’s promise was contingent on victory and formation of a government.
He also disputed PM Modi’s claim that Congress vote share has fallen in 16 states where it was the only one to appeal. “This is factually incorrect. Congress vote share has increased in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Telangana etc,” Tagore was quoted as saying in his letter to Om Birla.
The Congressman termed Modi’s remarks that there are “no bulletproof vests” as “grossly misleading”. [were provided] for the army during the Congress era”. “There was a shortage of jackets, not that there were no jackets. Even the police had bulletproof jackets, like in the Mumbai attacks,” Tagore said.
He also challenged the Prime Minister over the claim that Congress had not supplied fighter jets to the army.
(With input from agencies)
