Rahul Gandhi gets notice over ‘unparliamentary’ remarks on PM Modi over Adani

The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Sunday asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to submit his reply after two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Nishikant Dubey and Prahlad Joshi filed a breach of privilege notice against him for his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was asked to respond by Wednesday.

Complaints were made against Rahul Gandhi’s February 7 parliamentary speech where he alleged that PM Modi was behind the success of Adani Group’s owner Gautam Adani amid the report released by Hindenburg Research. To establish a relationship between them, he displayed a picture in the Lok Sabha where the multi-millionaire was seen sharing a space with the Prime Minister inside a private jet.

He further said that during his journey across the country in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, public asked him about Adani’s sudden rise to success and reasons behind his expansion into several sectors.

“The youth asked us that Adani’s business is now in eight to ten sectors and how his net worth reached $140 billion from $8 billion between 2014 and 2022,” he said.

Earlier, Joshi, who is also the Union parliamentary affairs minister, wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker saying Rahul Gandhi mislead the House by levelling accusations with any documentary evidence. He further laid out the rules saying that a notice is required beforehand an MP makes any allegation another parliamentarian.

Nishikant Dubey also countered Gandhi’s allegations and alleged Congress of favouring Tata, Birla and Ambani.

Parts of Gandhi’s speech where he mentioned Adani were later expunged, stirring a row in the political corridors. Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla urging to revisit his decision to expunge Rahul Gandhi’s speech.

“The allegation was not raised by the Congress party but by an internationally renowned organisation Hindenburg research paper. According to their reports, there has been fraud and there have been great financial irregularities,” he said earlier.