Piyush Goyal has trashed allegations made by Trinamool MP Saket Gokhale
Hours after a Trinamool MP claimed that Union Minister Piyush Goyal had told him that all Opposition MPs were not being suspended from parliament because it will be a bad look, the minister has said the Opposition MP is "spreading vicious lies with obvious malafide".
The scathing response was to a post by Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on the suspension spree of Opposition MPs in both Houses of parliament. A total of 143 MPs have been suspended for misconduct after they demanded a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the huge security breach in parliament last week.
Mr Gokhale claimed that he had asked Mr Goyal why the remaining MPs from INDIA parties were not being suspended.
"I HATE to disclose a private informal conversation but this is what happened yesterday & it's devious. I asked @PiyushGoyal why the small bunch of us remaining INDIA MPs weren't being suspended in the Rajya Sabha despite protesting in the well. Because 46 of our INDIA colleagues got instantly suspended for the same thing a day earlier. He says 'Because if there's zero Opposition MPs left, it looks bad for us'," the MP said in a post on X.
"But then he added - "Don't worry, you'll all be suspended before @AmitShah ji comes to Rajya Sabha to table the criminal law Bills". This is what our Parliament has now become reduced to under Modi's orders," Mr Gokhale added.
Trashing the Trinamool MP's claim, Mr Goyal called it a "false, mischievous piece of fake news". "Once again, a false, mischievous piece of fake news by Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale that is now the standard operating manual of the Congress led Ghamandia Gatbandhan," the minister said.
He said Mr Gokhale's post came amid the massive row over his party colleague Kalyan Banerjee's mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. "It comes soon after an unprecedented insult of the Hon'ble Vice President of India by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee. Hardly surprising that Saket Gokhale is spreading vicious lies with obvious malafide intent. Such brazen falsehoods show the depths to which frustrated Congress and Trinamool can stoop," Mr Goyal added.