A day after BJP leader Anurag Thakur made a caste remark against Rahul Gandhi which was later encouraged and shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media with a caption “must hear”, the Congress on Wednesday submitted a notice to move privilege motion against the Prime Minister for backing his young colleague’s speech.
Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against PM Modi for having posted on ‘X’ a video that allegedly contained portions of remarks made by BJP MP Anurag Thakur that were expunged from the proceedings of the House by the Chair.
Channi, a Dalit MP of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, submitted a notice to Speaker Om Birla seeking to move a privilege motion under Rule 222 of the Rules of Procedure against the prime minister.
“I hereby give notice to move a privilege motion under Rule 222 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha against the Prime Minister for having tweeted on ‘X’ a portion of remarks which were expunged from the proceedings of the House by the Chair,” the former Punjab chief minister said in his communication to Birla.
On July 30, 2024, certain objectionable remarks made by Thakur were expunged from the proceedings of the House by the Lok Sabha speaker, he said.
It is, however, shocking to note that the prime minister posted on ‘X’ the whole video of the speech which also contained these expunged portions, Channi said.
As laid down in Practice and Procedure of Parliament, “The effect in law of an order of the Speaker expunging words, remarks or a portion of the proceedings is as if those words/remarks or that portion of the proceedings had never been spoken. Publication of the expunged words or expressions would amount to a breach of privilege,” he said citing the ‘Practice and Procedure of Parliament by Kaul and Shakdher.
This position has been reiterated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the Searchlight case, Channi said.
“The prime minister’s tweeting of the remarks which had been expunged from the proceedings of Lok Sabha clearly amounts to a breach of privilege and contempt of the House. I, therefore, contemplate to move a privilege motion against prime minister and request you to please admit my motion and permit me to move the same. Request that privilege proceedings may be initiated against the prime minister,” the Congress leader said in his letter.
How things unfolded
While addressing the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Hamirpur MP Thakur got into a heated exchange with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, taking a jibe at his caste.
“The one whose caste is not known is talking about the census,” Thakur said.
The remarks led to an uproar from the Opposition and a renewed call to consider the caste census bill.
Amid the uproar, the Leader of the Opposition interjected to say he should be given an opportunity to respond because Thakur had insulted him.
“You can insult me as much as you want, do it every day. But don’t forget that we (the opposition) will get the Bill (on Caste Census) passed here (in Parliament),” Gandhi said.
Later, PM shared the video of Anurag Thakur’s speech, calling it a ‘must hear’.
“This speech by my young and energetic colleague, Shri @ianuragthakur is a must hear. A perfect mix of facts and humour, exposing the dirty politics of the INDI Alliance,” PM Modi posted on X.
Congress hits back
The post evoked a strong reaction from Congress, terming the speech “highly abusive” and “unconstitutional tirade” and accused the PM of encouraging a serious breach of Parliamentary privilege.
“This speech that the non-biological Prime Minister calls a ‘must hear’ is a highly abusive and unconstitutional tirade – and by sharing it, he has encouraged a serious breach of Parliamentary privilege,” said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on X.
Jairam said former Union Minister Anurag Thakur brought Parliamentary discourse to a new low by asking a fellow MP and the Leader of Opposition about his caste identity.
He said senior BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was in the Chair, had assured the remarks would be expunged. While expunged comments are edited out of videos uploaded online, Sansad TV has uploaded the unedited speech in this case, he added.
“In a departure from all parliamentary norms – expunged comments are edited out of videos uploaded online – Sansad TV has uploaded the unedited speech, and the non-biological Prime Minister has shared and praised it publicly. This is a new and shameful low in the annals of India’s parliamentary history. It reflects the BJP-RSS and Mr. Modi’s deep-rooted casteism,” Jairam said.
How Parliament deals with Privilege Motion
A breach of privilege is an infringement of any of the privileges of MPs or Parliament.
Chapter 20 of rule 22 for Lok Sabha and Chapter 16 Rule 187 for the Rajya Sabha have mentioned the Privilege motion.
The scrutiny regarding the breach of this motion in the Lok Sabha is managed by the Speaker and that in the Rajya Sabha is managed by the Chairperson.
Once the Speaker or the Chairperson considers the accusations to be true then the accused is called to explain themselves.
A committee of 15 members is elected by the Speaker in the Lok Sabha and a committee of 10 members is elected by the Chairperson at the Rajya Sabha.
These committees are responsible for managing all the cases and accusations related to the privilege motion and take relevant actions against and breach of the motion.
With inputs from agencies
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