On Friday, Congress leader K C Venugopal issued a breach of privilege notice to Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was in response to the prime minister’s remarks during his reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s address, in which he questioned why former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s family did not use his surname. Venugopal alleged that the prime minister’s comments were mocking and insulting towards members of the Nehru family, particularly Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who are members of the Lok Sabha. He argued that the suggestion made by the prime minister was preposterous, as the surname of the father is not taken by a daughter. Venugopal further claimed that the prime minister’s remarks amounted to casting reflections upon Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, breaching their privileges and also tantamounting to contempt of the house. As a result, he sought privilege proceedings against the prime minister for making derogatory, insulting, distasteful and defamatory remarks against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
In response to this, the BJP has been demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi after he made comments about “democracy under threat” during a recent speech in London. The party has accused him of defaming India and its institutions on foreign soil.
