New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sagarika Ghose on Thursday (December 12) submitted a privilege motion notice against Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju accusing him of “insulting” opposition leaders by calling them unworthy of being in the House
In a statement, Ghose, who is the deputy leader of the TMC in the Rajya Sabha, said that the notice had been signed by all other opposition leaders in the house.
“Today I have submitted a privilege motion against parliamentary affairs minister Shri KirenRijiju. Instead of doing his job of running [the] parliament smoothly, [he] has chosen to repeatedly insult opposition members,” her statement said.
“Yesterday (11/12/24) Mr Rijiju insulted the opposition by saying that [they are] “not worthy” of being members of the House. Mr Rijuju has insulted opposition members and used personal terms against opposition MPs both inside and outside the House. This is totally unbecoming and unacceptable for the high office he holds and amounts to a brazen misuse of his position.
“In the circumstances we have been constrained to move a privilege motion against Shri Rijiju for abusing his office with his diatribes and unparliamentary language against the opposition. All opposition parties and senior leaders of the opposition have signed the privilege motion against Shri Rijuju. [His] language calls for an unqualified apology and his remarks against the opposition must be expunged,” the statement added.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday saw heated exchanges between the opposition and Treasury benches, following the notice given by the opposition members for the removal of the Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar who also serves as the Rajya Sabha chairperson.
“After 72 years, a farmers’ son has become vice president and as chairperson of this House how he has maintained the dignity of this House. We have been seeing from the beginning how the opposition does not believe in democracy or the dignity of the Chair. You go out of the House and level baseless allegations against the vice president. You are not worthy of this House. If you cannot respect the Chair then you have no right to be members of this House,” said Rijiju.
“We have all taken oath as members of this House and as ministers to protect this country’s democracy. If you attack the vice president, then we will defend him and we will not allow your intentions to succeed. The links between Sonia Gandhi and George Soros that are emerging is not our report. This is coming out in the world media. You should feel ashamed for keeping links with those who want to harm India. You speak the same language as Soros. You stand with those trying to hurt India and then you give notice against the Chairman. In this house and outside he has always stood for farmers’ and the poor. He always tries to protect the Constitution. We are proud of him sitting in this Chair. We will not allow this drama of giving a notice against the Chair. The Congress should apologise.”
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs have raised the matter of alleged links between the Congress party and US billionaire George Soros in the parliament, accusing the opposition party of attempting to destabilise India. This led to repeated disruptions and adjournments this week. The opposition on the other hand demanded a discussion on bribery allegations against the Adani Group.