Privilege notice to Rahul over 'Jaitlie' tweet

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday sent a privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for further action, holding that "prima facie there is an issue of privilege", sources said.

Naidu sent the notice to the Lok Sabha speaker for further action as Gandhi is a member of the Lower House.

A complaint against Gandhi is already pending before the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha, chaired by BJP veteran L K Advani after the speaker forwarded the same to it.

BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Bhupinder Yadav had given the privilege notice against Congress President Gandhi over a tweet put out by him in which he questioned the authority of the Rajya Sabha and questioned its decision.

"On examination, prima facie there is an issue of privilege," Naidu said while referring the privilege notice to the Lok Sabha speaker, the sources said.

Yadav had alleged that there is a "breach of privilege" by Gandhi as he used derogatory words against Finance Minister and Leader of the House Arun Jaitley, by twisting his name.

Defending Rahul Gandhi over his tweet against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Congress on Saturday said if it attracted a privilege notice, then the BJP should be held guilty on many such counts.

Hitting back at the ruling party, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma cited PM Narendra Modi's remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh and Vice President Hamid Ansari during the recent Gujarat polls.

"If it comes to privilege, ministers in the government have made many such comments which will attract privilege notices. The prime minister made inappropriate remarks against people who held constitutional posts," Sharma told reporters.