BJP moves privilege motion against home minister P Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: BJP on Tuesday gave notice for a privilege motion against home minister P Chidambaram, accusing him of showing disrespect to Parliament by making a statement outside the House on the recent “conflict of interest” controversy surrounding him.

BJP’s Yashwant Sinha submitted the notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar after a meeting of the parliamentary party chaired by senior leader LK Advani. When Sinha raised the issue after question hour, the Speaker said the notice was under her consideration. “You have not given a notice to speak. You are a senior member and you should know the rules. Please sit down,” Kumar told the BJP leader.

BJP’s latest tirade against the home minister came even as the opposition party and its allies continued with their strategy of boycotting Chidambaram in Parliament over the 2G spectrum allocation issue. Each time the home minister tried to answer questions posed by members, BJP raised slogans seeking his ouster.

However, he went on replying to queries amid the din. Last week, BJP stepped up pressure on the government for the home minister’s dismissal, alleging he had misused his position by getting withdrawn some cases of forgery and cheating against SP Gupta, chairman of Sunair Hotels Pvt Ltd, whom he had represented as a lawyer.

Chidambaram used a press conference to reject the charges that he had misused his office while withdrawing the prosecution against Gupta.

“Chidambaram has spoken to the media when the Parliament session is on. Instead of making a statement inside Parliament, he decided to give a statement to the media. This amounts to disrespect of Parliament.

Yashwant Sinha has moved a notice of privilege against him,” BJP leader SS Ahluwalia told reporters. He also attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for backing Chidambaram. “The prime minister has also given a clean chit to him. This is not right. Parliament will decide what is right or not. All papers should be put before Parliament.

There should be discussion and then Parliament will decide what is right or not. Giving such a certificate when the Parliament is on is not right. It amounts to disrespect to Parliament,” Ahluwalia said.