BJP moves to get Rahul Gandhi suspended from Lok Sabha over UK remarks

The BJP has approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to constitute a committee to look into whether Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks in London were an insult to India's democracy and that he should be suspended from the Lok Sabha if he does not apologise in the House. Gandhi met the Speaker on Thursday requesting that he be allowed to defend himself in the House.

On Wednesday, Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey had demanded the setting up of a special parliamentary committee under Rule 223 of the House's rules of procedure and conduct of business to inquire into Gandhi's "contemptuous" remarks. He said the committee should consider if Gandhi should be expelled from the House to give a clear message so that "no one takes the pride and respect of high institutions for a ride". Dubey said he is seeking the formation of a special parliamentary committee similar to the one made in 2008 on the cash-for-votes scam during the UPA-I government.

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Dubey alleged that statements made by Gandhi are virulent and "systematically anti-India campaign to malign and bring disrepute and contempt of Parliament" and a concerted effort to "run down and defame our democratic institutions." A Parliamentary Committee looking into the 2008 'cash-for-vote' scam probed allegations by three BJP MPs that they were offered money to back the Manmohan Singh government during the crucial trust vote that year. The Committee was set up after these BJP members displayed wads of currency notes during the debate on the confidence motion in the Lok Sabha and alleged that attempts were made to bribe them in order to enlist their support.

The Congress on Thursday also attacked the Centre over a Delhi Police notice to Gandhi seeking details of sexual assault victims who the party said met him during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, alleging that a government rattled by his questions on the Adani issue was hiding behind its police. Taking cognisance of social media posts, police have sent a questionnaire and asked Gandhi "to give details about women who approached him regarding sexual harassment".

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Reacting to the development, the Congress said on Twitter, "A government, rattled by Rahul Gandhi's questions on PM (Narendra) Modi and Adani's relationship, hides behind its police." "Forty-five-days after Bharat Jodo Yatra was completed, Delhi Police has, via a notice, sought details of women who met him and spoke about harassment and violence they may have faced," the party said. "We will respond to the notice in due course in accordance with law," the Congress said.

This notice is yet another proof of a government in panic and their latest salvo to weaken democracy, women empowerment, freedom of expression and role of the Opposition, it alleged. "Images are self-explanatory," the party said and shared pictures of police outside Gandhi's Tuglaq Lane residence here. According to police, Gandhi gave a statement in Srinagar during the Bharat Jodo Yatra that "I have heard that women are still being sexually assaulted". Police have asked him to give details of these victims so that security can be provided to them, the officials said.