Union Home Minister Amit Shah has accused the Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha of fraud in connection with the Delhi Services Bill. Responding to the Rajya Sabha debate before the measure was adopted on Monday evening, Mr Shah stated that the motion contains the names of five MPs who were added fraudulently and that the situation should be probed by the parliament’s Privilege Committee. Mr Chadha avoided the question by stating that he would react if the Privilege Committee sent him a notice.
On Monday, the Aam Aadmi Party MP moved to refer the Delhi Services Bill to the Select Committee.
“Two MPs are now claiming that they did not second it. Sasmit Patra of the BJD said he never gave consent for inclusion in the motion. How could his name be taken,” Mr Shah said, triggering chaos in the house.
The minister who proposed the Delhi Services bill in the house claimed this was an issue of privilege and should be probed by the privilege Committee as opposition members were on their feet shouting in protest.
“Four members have complained to me. “We will look into it,” stated Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.
Narhani Amin, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Sasmit Patra, Thambidurai, and Phangon Konyak are the members. According to sources, all five have now issued separate notifications of violation of privilege against Raghav Chadha.
When asked about it later, Raghav Chadha stated, “Let a privilege committee send me a notice, and I will respond.”
In an exclusive interview, Biju Janata Dal MP Sasmit Patra said, “I have given notice of privilege motion. My name was included in the motion in which Raghav Chadha proposed to send the Delhi service bill to a select committee… The names of five to six MPs were wrongly added to it… I want this matter to be investigated. Obviously, the Privileges Committee will definitely look into the matter”.
The law was endorsed today by the BJD, the YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh, the TDP, and other parties, ensuring its swift passage through the House.
According to the norms, members should be consulted before their names are included, Rajya Sabha MP Keshav Rao of Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi said in a statement to News Agency. “However, this has not occurred in this instance. However, this is not a significant issue. I also chaired the Rajya Sabha, he added.
Insisting it was been a mistake and could be solved with a simple apology, he said, “There was no need for the Home Minister to create such a commotion, standing up and speaking about it in the House. Whatever happened is wrong. But the man who was named – it was not intentional”.
The bill, which received 131 votes in favor of passage, has the support of the BRS. 102 people voted against it. Four MPs chose not to vote. The new law, which only needs the President’s approval, gives the Central Government the authority to direct how the Delhi government operates by having the final say in decisions regarding employee and bureaucrat postings and transfers.
