Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey on Thursday said that he has submitted a notice in the Lok Sabha to initiate a substantive motion against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for allegedly “fomenting public sentiments” in Parliament through foreign funding, reported The Indian Express.
A substantive motion is a formal proposal placed before the House for discussion and decision. If admitted by the speaker, it entails a debate followed by a compulsory vote.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Dubey said that he has sought the cancellation of Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership. “He should be debarred from contesting the election for a lifetime,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying.
Dubey also said that he had not moved a privilege motion against Gandhi.
A privilege motion is brought when a member believes that the privileges of the House or of its members have been breached. It is examined by the speaker. If admitted, it may be referred to the Committee of Privileges for inquiry.
In his notice, the BJP MP said that Gandhi has engaged with the Soros Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development, and travelled to countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the United States to take part in “anti-India activities”, The Indian Express reported.
Dubey alleged in the notice that Gandhi has “very cleverly…captured the most pious dais of Parliament to foment public sentiments, levelling unsubstantiated allegations…against the Election Commission…[and] Supreme Court…lowering the dignity of the government without any substantive evidence and putting various other institutions in bad light”, the newspaper reported.
He also said that Gandhi’s conduct is unethical and added that the Congress leader is a key part of a “thuggery gang to destabilise India from within”.
Dubey said that Gandhi’s “relentless and well-choreographed actions, within and outside Parliament, are inimical to our country”, The Indian Express reported.
In response, Congress leader KC Venugopal told the newspaper that Dubey’s move was an attempt to divert attention from the matters Gandhi had raised. “It’s self-defence for the BJP,” The Indian Express quoted Venugopal as saying.
On Wednesday, Gandhi participated in the debate on the Union Budget. He alleged that the BJP-led Union government had “sold Bharat Mata” through the trade deal between India and the United States.
He claimed the deal was a “wholesale surrender” with India’s energy security handed over to the US and farmers’ interests compromised.
The Congress leader also mentioned that Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s name featured in the Epstein files.
The “Epstein files” refer to millions of documents, emails, photos and videos released by the US Department of Justice detailing the activities of Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted child sex offender, and his social circle that included politicians, celebrities and several public figures.
The documents released on January 30 contained email exchanges between Puri and Epstein that began in June 2014.
Puri has said his conversations with Epstein had nothing to do with the crimes for which the American financier had been convicted.
On Wednesday, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the BJP “will demand expunging of whatever lies Rahul Gandhi has spoken”.
The Lok Sabha has witnessed disruptions since February 2, with the Opposition protesting against Gandhi not being allowed to quote an excerpt from the unpublished memoir.
Naravane wrote that he had, in line with the protocol, sought “clear direction” from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, General Bipin Rawat, who was the chief of defence staff at the time, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Naravane said that hours after first seeking orders, he had been told by Singh that he had spoken with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that the military was to do whatever it deems appropriate.
The former Army chief wrote in his memoir that this implied that the Indian response was to be “purely a military decision” and that “the onus was now totally on [him]”.
The excerpts from the book that Gandhi had been attempting to quote from in the Lok Sabha had been reported in December 2023 and were quoted by The Caravan magazine on February 1.
BJP MPs had been objecting to the Congress MP speaking on the matter, arguing that he cannot quote from a book that had not yet been released.
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