Congress chief Rahul Gandhi took an oblique dig at PM Modi in a tweet to Arun Jaitley.
Highlights
- Venkaiah Naidu is examining the notice moved by Bhupendra Yadav
- Rahul Gandhi called Arun Jaitley "Jaitlie" in his tweet
- "Our PM never means what he says or says what he means," he tweeted
Rahul Gandhi has been accused of "intentionally twisting" Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's name by
spelling it as "Jaitlie" in his tweet, by a BJP lawmaker who on Thursday moved a notice in parliament against the Congress president.
Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu is examining whether Rahul Gandhi deliberately misspelt Mr Jaitley's name to ridicule him, as alleged by BJP lawmaker Bhupendra Yadav.
"The notice given by Bhupendra Yadav regarding a privilege motion is before me. I have to examine it and then take a view. I will go through the privilege motion and take an appropriate decision," Mr Naidu said in the Rajya Sabha yesterday.
The tweet under scrutiny was posted on Wednesday, hours after the government and the opposition worked out a truce to end the daily protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments implying a conspiracy between Congress leaders and Pakistan to defeat the BJP in Gujarat.
As part of the pact, Mr Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha: "The Prime Minister in his speeches didn't question, nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or former Vice President Hamid Ansari, any such perception is erroneous, we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India."
Hours later, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Dear Mr Jaitlie - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means."
Bhupendra Yadav said the Congress chief had "intentionally, maliciously and disrespectfully twisted" the finance minister's name. It did qualify as breach of privilege, he appealed.
Mr Naidu took a dim view of an outsider commenting on a "solemn agreement" between the leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Jaitley, and leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad. Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Lok Sabha.
"Anybody outside commenting on that agreement is not fair and good for the House and for the system also. Anyhow, whatever it is, I will be going through the privilege motion and take an appropriate decision," he said.