Battle in Kerala
With all 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala at stake in the second phase of polling tomorrow, the electoral drama unfolds with its usual intensity, underscoring the unique political landscape of the state.
In a blow to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday sent a breach of privilege motion against the Gandhi scion to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
The move comes after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bhupendra Yadav served a privilege notice against the Congress president in the Rajya Sabha for alleging using “derogatory” words against Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley on Twitter.
In his notice, Yadav said the Congress president twisted the spelling of Jaitley’s surname to ‘Jaitlie’ which was demeaning.
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On December 28, Yadav had given notice under Rule 187 alleging that Rahul Gandhi had “intentionally, maliciously and disrespectfully twisted” the name of the Leader of the House.
However, since Rahul is a member of the lower house, Naidu has referred it to the Lok Sabha Speaker to take the process forward.
On December 27, 2016, Rahul had tweeted: “Dear Mr Jaitlie – thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means. #BJPLies.”
The comment was in reference to Jaitley’s clarification in the House that PM Narendra Modi did not mean to question the commitment of his predecessor Manmohan Singh or former vice president Hamid Ansari.
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