Congress moves privilege notice against PM over national address

Congress leader K C Venugopal has submitted a privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Lok Sabha Speaker, accusing him of casting aspersions on opposition MPs during his address to the nation after the rejection of the bills by the House on implementing women’s reservation in 2029.
“Imputing motives” to members for their voting behaviour is a deliberate breach of privilege and contempt of the House, he alleged and urged Speaker Om Birla to refer the matter to the Committee on Privileges of the Lok Sabha for a detailed inquiry.
In his notice submitted under Rule 222 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, he claimed that on April 18, 2026, the Prime Minister addressed the nation on national television, following the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 2026.
The bill had failed to secure the required two-thirds majority as required under the provisions of Article 368 of the Constitution.
Venugopal said that in the 29-minute speech termed as ‘address to the nation’, the Prime Minister criticised opposition parties for blocking the bill and made direct reflections on the voting pattern of members of the opposition and attributed motives to them.
He said it is well established that casting reflections, aspersions and imputing motives to members of Parliament in regard to speeches made by them in Parliament tantamount to “gross breach of privilege and contempt of the House”.
“I therefore submit this notice of breach of privilege to your good office, Hon’ble Speaker, to take cognisance of this grave incident as a clear and deliberate breach of privilege and contempt of the House, and to refer the matter to the Committee on Privileges of the Lok Sabha for a detailed inquiry so that privilege proceedings can be initiated against the Prime Minister,” Venugopal said in his notice.
Oppn complaint ‘would be examined’, say EC sources: Election Commission sources on Tuesday said the opposition’s complaint that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation was violative of the poll code “would be examined” by it.
Left parties wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that Prime Minister Modi’s address to the nation on Saturday violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for elections and sought action against him.
The sources said the complaint against the prime minister “would be examined” by the Model Code of Conduct division of EC.