New Delhi: Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday, December 6 said security staff had recovered a wad of Rs 500 notes from the seat allotted to Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, leading to an uproar in the House with ruling and opposition benches trading allegations.
As controversy spiralled, Abhishek Manu Singhvi said it was bizarre that politics were being raised on issues such as this and clarified that he carries only one Rs 500 note when he goes to the Rajya Sabha. “I reached inside the house at 12:57 pm yesterday, and the house rose at 1 pm; then I sat in the canteen till 1:30 pm with Sh Ayodhya Rami Reddy, and then I left the parl!” he said in a post on X.
Opposition, ruling parties clash
While Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the chairman should not have named the member without an investigation being completed, Leader of the House J P Nadda accused the opposition of showing eagerness on “some issues” while wanting to cover up other issues.
The currency was recovered from seat 222, allotted to Singhvi during a routine anti-sabotage check on Thursday, Dhankhar said in the House.
The chairman said the wad has Rs 500 notes and there appear to be 100 notes.
An investigation has been ordered in accordance with practice. Dhankhar said that it was unclear whether the currency notes were real or fake.
“After the adjournment of the House yesterday, a wad of currency notes was recovered by security officials from seat no. 222 presently allotted to Abhishek Manu Singhvi, elected from the state of Telangana,” he said.
“It was my duty, and I’m obliged to inform the House. This is a routine anti-sabotage check that takes place,” he said.
Dhankhar added that he expected someone to claim the currency notes, but no one has.
“Does it reflect the state of the economy that people can afford to forget it?” he said.
As a ruckus broke out, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asked, “Why should there be an objection to the name being taken? The chairman has pointed out the seat number and the member who occupies that. What is the problem with that?”
He said carrying bundles of notes in the House is not appropriate and agreed that there should be serious investigation into the matter.
Dhankhar added that the anti-sabotage check was done in view of the security challenges.
“I have been careful that anti-sabotage checks must be very severe because in these highly technological situations where chemicals are used, the first and foremost is security… From that perspective it was done,” he said.
According to Nadda, the matter was serious, and the opposition and treasury benches should not be divided, as it is an attack on the dignity of the House.
Taking a jibe at opposition members, he said, “On some issues you show eagerness, while you want to cover up other issues.”
Kharge objected and retorted, “Why is Mr Nadda saying we are trying to suppress the matter… You do that; we don’t do that.”
BJP alleges distraction from Adani’s issue
Union Minister Piyush Goyal also said it is a serious issue. “… we don’t know what else may be found on that side,” he said.
Without taking any names, Goyal accused the opposition of stalling Parliament over ‘fake narratives.”.
“We have been seeing session after session, on fake narratives, fake views… the leader of the opposition and the leaders of the immoral alliance have stalled the House,” Goyal said in an apparent reference to the Congress demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe bribery allegations against industrialist Gautam Adani.
“They base their narrative on foreign reports and stall the House. Is there a conspiracy in this as well? People will have to worry about the kind of give and take that happens to forward the fake narrative,” he said.
Dhankhar then observed that while the Leader of Opposition has objected to a matter under investigation being debated, Goyal has suggested it should be made a general rule.
Nadda suggested that the House should pass a resolution saying the proceedings of the House should never be disrupted.
The Rajya Sabha then proceeded with Zero Hour.
“My total stay in the house yesterday was for three minutes and in Parliament for 30 minutes. I find it bizarre that even on such issues politics is raised. Of course there should be an inquiry as to how people can come and put anything anywhere on any seat,” Singhvi later told reporters.
He added that there should be an inquiry on how people can come and put anything anywhere on any seat. “It means that each one must have a seat where the seat itself can be locked and the key can be carried home by the member of Parliament. Because everybody can then do things on the seat and then make allegations about it,” the Congress MP and lawyer said.
“If it was not tragic and serious, it would be comic. Everyone should cooperate to get to the bottom of this. And, if there is a failing on the part of security agencies, that must also be completely exposed,” Singhvi said.
Addressing reports outside Parliament, his party colleague and Lok Sabha MP Imran Masood alleged that the government was trying to distract attention from the Adani issue.
“They are talking about wads of notes to distract attention from the Adani issue. They are in government; they should conduct a probe. Abhishek Manu Singhvi is an eminent lawyer; why would he do such a petty thing?” Masood said.
“They are running away from debate on the Adani issue,” he told PTI.
Communist Party of India MP from Rajya Sabha P Santosh Kumar said he supports an investigation, but taking the member’s name was unnecessary. “… it should be limited to the periphery of Rajya Sabha itself,” Kumar told PTI.
BJP MP calls for probe into ‘black money’
BJP Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari said he was “shocked” by the incident.
“This is a temple of democracy, money being recovered from the seat of a Congress leader… It should be investigated,” Tiwari told reporters.
“You find money from their seat and also from their homes… Where does so much black money come from? It needs to be investigated,” he said.
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