Congress moves privilege motion against PM Modi over Nehru surname remark against Gandhis

Senior Congress MP KC Venugopal on Friday submitted notice seeking initiation of breach of privilege provisions against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making “derogatory, insulting, distasteful and defamatory remarks” against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Parliament.

Venugopal’s notice comes days after his party colleague Shaktisinh Gohil submitted a similar notice against Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal for raking up Rahul’s ‘democracy in danger’ remarks in London on the premise that allegations against a member of another House should not be made in the Upper House.

The notices also come against the backdrop of the breach of privilege proceedings against Rahul initiated by the BJP for his attack on Modi on Adani Group issue and its leaders’ latest assertion that the top Congress leader should apologise for his London remarks or Parliament would have to resort to extraordinary steps.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi permanent 'part of toolkit' working against India: J P Nadda

Tweeting the notice he submitted, Venugopal said, "such below the belt remarks have no place in Parliament, least of all by the Prime Minister."

In his notice, Venugopal, also Congress General Secretary (Organisation), has referred to Modi’s remarks on the Gandhis not using Nehru surname even though they talk highly of Jawaharlal Nehru during his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in Rajya Sabha on February 9.

Venugopal said the remarks were made in a “mocking manner” and are “not only disgraceful but also insulting and defamatory” to the “members of the Nehru family”, particularly Sonia and Rahul, who are Lok Sabha MPs and former party presidents.

“...The very suggestion by the Prime Minister why they did not take Nehru as a surname is preposterous by its very nature. The Prime Minister knows very well that the surname of the father is not taken by the daughter. Despite knowing that, he deliberately mocked,” he said.

“Furthermore, the tone and tenor of the remark is insinuating and derogatory in nature. This clearly amounts to casting reflections” on Sonia and Rahul, which “breaches upon their privileges and tantamounts to contempt of the House”.

Quoting ‘Practice and Procedure of Parliament’ by MN Kaul and L Shakdher, he said it is a breach of privilege and contempt of the House to make speeches reflecting on the character or proceedings of the House or its committees or any member of the House or for relating to his character or conduct as an MP.

In the letter, he also quoted Erskine May’s ‘Parliamentary Practice’ to say that “in the past indignities offered to the House by words spoken or writings published reflecting on its character or proceedings have been punished by both the (House of) Commons and (House of) Lords upon the principle that such acts abuse tend to obstruct the Houses in the performance of their functions by diminishing the respect due to them”.

It also, according to the letter, said that “reflection upon members, the particular individuals not being named or otherwise indicated, are equivalent to reflections on the House”. The letter further quoted ‘Parliamentary Practice as saying, “speeches and writings reflecting upon the conduct of members as members have been treated as analogous to their molestation on account of their behaviour in Parliament”.