The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in a power-packed press conference which was attended by 10 MPs except Punjab’s Harbhajan Singh, tried to counter the allegation of the BJP that its MP Raghav Chadha had indulged in forgery in taking the names of many MPs in a select committee on Monday — even as Chadha clarified that he had not yet received any notice from the Privileges Committee on the issue.
Leading the charge against the Narendra Modi government, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, “You saw how the Centre’s dictatorial government, after strangulating the Delhi government, passed an unconstitutional Bill. However, even with this, Amit Shah’s heart was not content. The Modi government has started a new tradition to terminate the membership, throw the person out, or file FIR against anyone who speaks against the government.”
Singh argued that in the select committee, a member can suggest the name of any other member without the need for signatures. “Where has the home minister got this law from? Your purpose is to terminate the membership of Raghav Chadha in the same manner as you did with Rahul Gandhi,” he added.
The AAP MP in the centre of the storm clarified that he would not speak anything on the Privileges Committee or the Chair but would simply place his position.
Showing the Rule Book that governs proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, Chadha said: “The Rule Book says that for the creation of a select committee, any member’s name can be proposed and for that one does not need the sign or the written consent of the proposed member.”
Chadha also challenged the BJP to show the paper on which signatures were forged. Comparing the act of proposing the names of MPs in the select committee to invites for a birthday, the MP said: “For example, I invite 10 people for my birthday party of whom eight accept and the other two question the invite. I have just proposed the names.”
Referring to the Parliament Bulletin, Chadha said words like ‘forgery’ or ‘fakery’ have not been used. He further alleged that “BJP is irked by the act of questioning by a mere 34-year-old and wants to suppress my voice. They are after me. This is the second notice by the privileges committee to me”.
Chadha also said he will be forced to take ‘legal action’ against those MPs who have levelled false charges of ‘forgery’.
It must be noted that AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has been suspended for the entire session and has been protesting inside Parliament premises while AAP’s lone Lok Sabha MP Sushil Gupta, who had torn the copy of the contentious Government of National Capital Territory (Amendment) Bill, 2023, on the day it was passed in the Lower House, has also been suspended.
When pointed out that it is not just the BJP but also others — notably the BJD who have flagged off the breach of privilege issue — Sandeep Pathak, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP, responded: “The BJD MP was not alone. There were BJP MPs as well. The BJD MP, you must understand, was also with the NDA at that point in time, they were together. Obviously, they were trying to score brownie points and please their bosses. So it was quite obvious. It is not about the procedure, it is not about the legality. It is very clear in the Rule Book that you do not require signature or consent; it is all about a proposal. You submit a proposal and Parliament can either accept or decline. That’s all.”
Asked whether AAP would also try and refer those who allegedly made false allegations of “forgery” to the Privileges Committee, he added: “Whoever repeatedly said there was forgery or forged signatures must be sent a notice. [Inside Parliament] it is Privileges Committee and outside Parliament, there is court as well. There is an appropriate time and party will decide what to do.”
He said there were two angles — one was the proceedings inside Parliament and then there is a political angle. “When there is no question of signatures at all, where is the question of forged signatures?” Pathak asked.
On Monday, BJD MP Sasmit Patra had drawn the attention of the Chair when his name was called out. “When resolutions were being moved by respective members of Parliament who wanted to move resolutions against the GNCFT Bill, so it was select committee. At that point in time, I heard that suddenly my name has been listed in one of the resolutions being moved by Raghav Chadha. So I immediately drew the attention of the honourable Chairman, and I said that under Rule 72 (2), he allowed a point of order, so I moved a point of order — any person who is taken into the committee, then that said person has to be taken cognizance of. I mean the consent has to be taken of the respective person. Without having taken consent from that person you cannot move it. So that’s a very clear violation.”
Patra had added: “So, to this, other Members of Parliament, not only me, there are a few from the BJP as well as the other parties like Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi, Narahari Amin, Ms Konyac… so all of them found their name listed. It is all very shocking. Therefore, at that point in time, the matter was raised and the Union home minister was there. So he also said the matter should be investigated. We have filed our respective complaints to the Chair.”
The Rajya Sabha Chairman has received complaints from at least four MPs, including BJD MP Sasmit Patra.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, the parliamentary affairs minister brushed off the fresh charges by the AAP: “Like Arvind Kejriwal, Raghav Chadha also lies.”
