BJP wants Rahul Gandhi suspended from Lok Sabha over his remarks in UK: Report

According to a report published in Indian Express Bhartiya Janata party(BJP) has upped its attack on senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and may ask Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to suspend his membership from the lower house.

BJP has approached the Lok Sabha Speaker to set up a special committee on the lines of the panel set up in 2005 to probe the cash-for-query scandal. The committee generally submits its report in a month.

Meanwhile, the logjam in Parliament continued for the fourth successive day on Thursday with the ruling BJP and opposition parties sticking to their stands. The BJP demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in the UK while the Opposition members pressed for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group.

They alleged that Gandhi had insulted the country from foreign soil by asserting that the US and European nations were oblivious that a huge chunk of democratic model had come undone in India.

“India’s prestige has not been attacked in such a manner before. Political differences may be there but there cannot be a graver crime than to seek interference from foreign powers. Anger prevails across the country for the grave insult Rahul Gandhi has inflicted upon what even the world acknowledges as the mother of democracy,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters here.

Congress leaders have ruled out an apology by Gandhi, who met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and sought permission to respond in Parliament to the allegations levelled against him.

Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Kiren Rijiju, Anurag Thakur, Giriraj Singh and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Gandhi of “lying” about India in London and expressed anger that the Congress leader had not shown any remorse for his actions.

“Welcome to Parliament. It has been a week-long wait. Rahul Gandhi has maligned India from foreign soil, has spread lies and insulted Parliament. He should come to the House and apologise,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Thakur said.

Law Minister Rijiju said Gandhi was not above other Members of Parliament and should not treat the Indian Parliament as his personal fiefdom.

“Rahul Gandhi may have lived his 50 years as an entitled dynast. Before 2014, he may have had a free pass to do and say what he wants without any accountability, including tearing ordinances. But that stops now. He has to be accountable for his lies,” Chandrasekhar said.

The BJP leaders asked Gandhi to “first demonstrate” his regret as the Congress leader met Birla seeking permission to speak in the House amid an impasse in Parliament over his comments in the UK on the state of democracy in India.