Chaos in Lok Sabha over NYT report

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed unruly scenes during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament after BJP member Nishikant Dubey raised the issue of a news report published in The New York Times claiming that web portal NewsClick has received Rs 38 crore funding that was used to create an anti-India environment.

As the house reconvened at 12 pm, members of Congress as well as other Opposition parties started cheering the return of Rahul Gandhi in the House, whose suspension was revoked on Monday following the Supreme Court put a stay on his conviction in the Modi surname defamation case.

Amid the Congress members shouting slogans, including “Bharat Jodo Bharat Jodo” and “Rahul Gandhi Zindabad Zindabad”, Dubey raised the issue of The New York Times report and demanded that the government should investigate the beneficiaries of the funding.

“Between 2005 and 2014, whenever there was a crisis, the Congress had received money from China. In 2008, they had invited both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In 2016, they were talking to the Chinese during the Doklam crisis,” Dubey claimed.

Calling Dubey’s allegations “libellous” and “defamatory”, Congress MP and Leader of the Party Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury took the matter before Lok Sabha Speaker and demanded that expunging of BJP leader’s remarks from records.

“When the Acting Chair was giving the floor to ministers to lay papers on the table, Nishikant Dubey’s microphone was switched on. He proceeded to level ‘libellous’ and ‘defamatory’ charges against the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi without having given any notice, let alone taken the permission of the Chair. His allegations were a flagrant violation of Rule 353 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha,” Chowdhury said in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker.

“We therefore demand, under Rule 350, that his remarks be expunged in full and that an inquiry be conducted into how such an allegation was permitted to be raised on the record,” Chowdhury added.

Citing NYT report, Dubey also alleged that money was given to Maoists and journalists such as Rohini Singh, Swati Chaturvedi, etc to set an anti-India narrative through their reports.

Responding to the BJP leader’s allegations, Chaturvedi, in a tweet, said “Open challenge to Dubey who slandered me just now in Parliament. I have nothing to do with NewsClick. I have not even appeared ever on any programme nor received a penny from them for anything.”