Rahul Gandhi responds to breach of privilege notice over remarks on PM, sends reply to LS

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has responded to the breach of privilege notice that was issued against him on February 7. Gandhi has submitted a detailed reply to the Lok Sabha Secretariat on the notices moved by BJP members regarding his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House, sources said on Wednesday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had issued the notice against him for allegedly making  "misleading, disrespectful, unparliamentary, and incriminatory allegations" against PM Modi.

Reportedly, the MP addressed all claims made against him and provided responses based on evidence and prior cases.

He said that he had "written to the speaker with every single point they have removed and supporting proof," adding that in his speech in the Lower House of Parliament, he did not use any bad or abusive language.

Officials from the Lok Sabha stated that the response would be reviewed by the secretariat's privileges division and sent to the Speaker's office for a systematic course of action. According to a senior official, the Speaker's office did not receive the response until Wednesday afternoon.

Why was the notice issued? 

On February 7, during a discussion of the "Motion of Thanks on the President's Address," Gandhi criticised PM Modi. Gandhi was requested by the Lok Sabha Secretariat in a letter dated February 10 to submit his response to the breach of privilege notices brought against him by February 15 for the consideration of the Lok Sabha speaker. Several remarks made by Gandhi were expunged by the speaker following his speech.