NEW DELHI: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Thursday said he has submitted a substantive motion against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, seeking the cancellation of Gandhi’s membership from Parliament and demanding that he be barred from contesting elections for life.
The development follows Rahul Gandhi’s sharp attack on the Union government on Wednesday over the India-US interim trade deal. Gandhi had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having “sold the nation”, claiming that the agreement undermines farmers’ interests, harms the textile sector, and compromises India’s energy security by favouring the United States.
Responding to remarks made earlier by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju that the government would move a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi for allegedly misleading the House, Dubey said no such privilege motion had been filed.
“There is no privilege motion. I have submitted a substantive motion wherein I have mentioned how he allegedly engages with the Soros Foundation, Ford Foundation, USAID and travels to places like Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the US, and how he is linked with anti-India forces,” he told the media.
Dubey added that based on these allegations, he has demanded that Gandhi’s parliamentary membership be cancelled and that he be permanently barred from contesting elections.
However, constitutional expert and former Lok Sabha Secretary General P.D.T. Achary raised questions about the procedural validity of Dubey’s move. Speaking to TNIE, Achary noted that Dubey had not cited the specific rule under which the motion was submitted.
“All motions are substantive. Which rule is he quoting? A motion has to be given under certain rules. If a person has committed contempt of the House, then they can give a notice of contempt. That will be examined by the Privileges Committee, and the committee will give its report or recommendations. The House will act on it, that’s the process. There is no other way,” Achary said.
Achary further clarified that while the House has the power to expel a member, it does not have the authority to disqualify one.
“Disqualification takes place only under the Anti-Defection Law and the Representation of the People's Act,” he said.
