Coming out strongly against the BJP's allegations of forgery, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha today trashed the charges and said the ruling party had targeted him because it could not accept that a 34-year-old MP took on its tallest leaders.
Addressing a press meet today, the Rajya Sabha MP challenged BJP leaders to show any piece of paper where he has forged anyone's signature.
"The BJP's mantra is 'repeat a lie a thousand times and it becomes the truth'. Following this mantra, a misinformation campaign was launched again me. That's why I had to come before you today to clear the air," he said.
The BJP has alleged that Mr Chadha forged signatures of five MPs while demanding that the Delhi services Bill be sent to a select committee for further scrutiny. The Bill, which seeks to control the bureaucrats in the national capital, has cleared the Parliament.
Waving a red book listing Rajya Sabha rules, Mr Chadha said there is no need for anyone's signature or written consent to propose his/her name for a select committee.
"Whenever a controversial bill comes to the House and a member wants this bill be discussed at length before a vote, he recommends sending it a select committee. Names of MPs are proposed for this panel. Those who do not wish to be part of the committee can withdraw their names. When there is no signature involved, how can it be forged?" Mr Chadha asked.
He then gave a birthday party example to drive home his point. "Suppose I organise a birthday party and invite 10 people. Eight of them come, and two don't accept my invite. Instead, they charge me, 'how dare you invite us to your birthday?' This is what happened. I just invited them (MPs) to be part of the committee," he said.
Four MPs - Biju Janata Dal's Sasmit Patra, BJP's S Phangnon Konyak and Narhari Amin and AIADMK's M Thambidurai have submitted complaints against Mr Chadha. The complaints have been referred to the privileges committee by Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Mr Chadha said the Parliamentary bulletin does not even mention "forgery" or "signature". "It is not mentioned because there is no signature involved," he said.
"BJP is after me. I have received two notices of privileges committee within a week. All attempts are being made to silence the Opposition. Rahul Gandhi's membership was snatched. Our party MPs, Sanjay Singh and Sushil Kumar Rinku, were suspended. Leader of the Opposition's mic is switched off. There is an attempt to impose undeclared Emergency. But I want to tell them, you cannot silence my voice," he said.
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