Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s reference to the death of a judicial officer triggered an uproar in the Lok Sabha on Friday with Union minister Kiren Rijiju accusing her of raising a matter settled by the Supreme Court and warning her of “appropriate parliamentary action”.
Participating in a debate on 75 years of the Indian Constitution, Ms Moitra made passing but contentious remarks on the death of the judicial officer.
The House was adjourned briefly twice due to the uproar over the matter and the debate resumed after Speaker Om Birla said he has asked her to authenticate her claims. He also assured opposition members that he will look into their reservations against Mr Rijiju’s “threatening” language against a woman MP.
BJP member Nishikant Dubey first raised the issue after Ms Moitra finished her speech.
Mr Dubey accused Ms Moitra of making an insinuation about the judicial officer’s death.
Later in a post on X, Ms Moitra said all those reporting that “Parliament Affairs Minister warned me – it is he who will face action for threatening me! His remarks to be deleted- not mine!” Mr Rijiju said the case of the judicial officer’s death is settled and the TMC MP’s remarks were very serious. There is no question of any link or interference, he added.
“We will take appropriate parliamentary action. You cannot escape. You are setting a very wrong precedent,” the parliamentary affairs minister said.
Otherwise, any member will make similar allegations, he added.
When the House reconvened after two adjournments, senior opposition members, Saugata Roy of the TMC and K C Venugopal of the Congress, protested against Rijiju’s choice of words, emphasising that it is the Speaker who is the custodian of the Lok Sabha.
Both the MPs said the ruling party could have resorted to appropriate rules to seek action if they had an issue with Ms Moitra’s speech.
Addressing Speaker Birla, Mr Venugopal said, “You are the custodian. You have the powers to delete, expunge… The parliamentary affairs minister took the entire custody of the House and he virtually threatened the lady member.” Mr Venugopal said the minister’s responsibility is to maintain peace in the House but he instead “threatened” and intimidated a woman member. He demanded that Rijiju apologise or his remarks be expunged.
Mr Roy accused Mr Rijiju of making a “brazen effort” to threaten Moitra.
The Speaker lamented members engaging in personal allegations and counter-allegations, and asked them to have a constructive debate over issues related to the Constitution.
Om Birla said he has asked Ms Moitra to authenticate her remarks. He said he will look into what the minister has said and will delete, if needed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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