Furore in Rajya Sabha over expunged remarks

NEW DELHI: Deletion of parts of Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley’s speech — where he criticised PM Manmohan Singh on the economic situation — from the Rajya Sabha records led to furore in the Upper House on Monday, after BJP demanded to know who authorised the RS Secretariat to ‘selectively’ expunge remarks.


As soon as the House assembled at 11 am, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu raised the issue and said that after PM’s statement in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, many journalists received a call from the RS Secretariat to delete certain portions of Jaitley’s speech. Naidu demanded to know who had authorised this.

Senior MP Najma Heptullah added, “...It is first brought to the Chairman’s notice. After his go-ahead, a printed record is given to him and he signs on passages that need to be expunged. Was that done?” Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari said he didn’t see any merit in discussing the functioning of the RS Secretariat.