BJP moves privilege notice against Congress president Rahul Gandhi

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Bhupendra Yadav moved a privilege notice in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday against Congress president Rahul Gandhi for referring to Arun Jaitley, Leader of the House, as “Jaitlie” in one of his tweets.

Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu, after initially cautioning Mr. Yadav against taking the name of a person who was not present in the House, “who cannot defend himself in the House against a charge or an allegation or an issue raised against him,” said he would examine the notice.

During zero hour, Mr. Yadav said he had given notice under Rule 187 as Mr. Gandhi had “intentionally, maliciously and disrespectfully twisted” the name of Mr. Jaitley in a tweet.

1954 precedent

He recalled a 1954 precedent when the Special Marriage Bill was adopted by the Rajya Sabha



during the Prime Ministership of Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, when Lok Sabha member N.C. Chatterjee had made some comments against the Rajya Sabha and a Joint Committee had been constituted to examine the issue. According to a book by the late Madhu Dandavate, Mr. Chatterjee, father of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, had referred to members of the Rajya Sabha as “a pack of urchins.”

The statement was published in newspapers. The book said: “Mr. Chatterjee, who was well-versed with rules governing member’s privilege…. moved a counter-Privilege Motion saying, ‘Though I am a member of Lok Sabha, I am being subjected to the jurisdiction of the other House’.”

The Rajya Sabha also witnessed two adjournments in the pre-lunch session as the Opposition protested against the controversial remarks by Minister Anantkumar Hegde.