Congress gives breach of privilege notice over PM Modi's remarks on Nehru surname
New Delhi, Mar 17: Congress leader K C Venugopal on Friday gave Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar a breach of privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks on why former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's family did not use his surname.
The prime minister's remarks were made during his reply to the motion of thanks on the president's address in the Rajya Sabha on February 9 during the first part of the budget session.
"I hereby give a notice of question of privilege against the prime minister of India under Rule 188 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Council of States (Rajya Sabha) for having cast reflections upon members of Parliament during his reply to the motion of thanks on the president's address on February 9, 2023," Venugopal said in his notice.
He alleged that the remarks prima facie were made in a mocking manner and were not only disgraceful but also insulting and defamatory vis-a-vis members of the Nehru family, particularly Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who are members of the Lok Sabha.
Venugopal said in his notice that the very suggestion by the prime minister on why they did not take Nehru as a surname is "preposterous" by its very nature.
The prime minister, he said, knows very well that the surname of the father is not taken by daughter.
"Despite knowing that, he deliberately mocked....The tone and tenor of the remark is insinuating and derogatory in nature. This clearly amounts to casting reflections upon Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi by the prime minister, which breaches upon their privileges and also tantamounts to contempt of the house.
"I seek privilege proceedings against Shri Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, for having made derogatory, insulting, distasteful and defamatory remarks against Smt Sonia Gandhi and Shri Rahul Gandhi which has amounted to breach of their privileges and also contempt of the house," the Congress Rajya Sabha member said in his notice.
The BJP has been demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi after the party launched a major offensive against him over his "democracy under threat" remarks made recently in London. The party alleged that the former Congress chief has defamed India and its institutions on foreign soil.
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Karnataka open to making Tulu second additional official language: Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Minister Shivraj Tangadagi on Wednesday told the Legislative Assembly that the Karnataka government is in favour of declaring Tulu as the state’s second additional official language.
He said the government is studying the measures adopted by West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, both of which have additional official languages.
The minister was responding to a question by Puttur Congress MLA Ashok Kumar Rai during Question Hour.
Tulu is predominantly spoken in the coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada, and legislators across party lines from these regions, including Speaker U T Khader, have been demanding that the government declare it as the state’s second additional official language.
At present, Kannada is the state’s only official language, while English is also used for official purposes as an additional language.
"I am continuously following it up. We have written to West Bengal and sent a committee of officials to Andhra Pradesh, where Urdu was recently declared the second official language. The committee has gathered information and returned, but is yet to submit its report," Tangadagi said.
He added that once the report is submitted, a meeting involving the Speaker, district in-charge ministers, and legislators from Tulu-speaking districts will be convened with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. "I want to assure you that we are in favour of this," he said.
Earlier, noting that several states have two or three additional official languages, Rai demanded that Tulu be declared an official language at the earliest, stating that it would not impose any financial burden on the government.
"Tulu has a history of 3,000 years, has its own script, and is included in Google Translate. The language is being researched in Germany and France, and universities have allowed examinations in Tulu," Rai said, adding that this was a unanimous demand of 13 legislators from Tulu-speaking Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, with no opposition.
Saying it had been a long-standing demand, Rai added that a Cabinet meeting was likely to be held in Mangaluru in the coming days and urged that a decision be announced there.
BJP MLA Vedavyas Kamath also demanded early action to declare Tulu an official language. He even spoke in Tulu in the House with Speaker U T Khader, who hails from a Tulu-dominant region and speaks the language fluently.
Kamath said a committee headed by educationist Mohan Alva, constituted by the previous BJP government to examine the issue, had studied the matter in detail and compiled all relevant information.
