LS secretariat asks Rahul Gandhi to reply by Feb 15 to notices on Modi remarks

The Lok Sabha Secretariat has asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to respond by February 15 to notices given by Bharatiya Janata Party members regarding his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House.

In a letter to Gandhi, dated February 10, the secretariat has asked him to furnish his reply on breach of privilege notices against him by BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Pralhad Joshi -- also the parliamentary affairs minister -- by February 15 for the Lok Sabha speaker's consideration.

Following Gandhi's speech in Lok Sabha on the 'Motion of Thanks on the President's Address' on Tuesday, in which he commented on the Hindenburg-Adani issue, Dubey and Joshi had moved the notices against him.

Both the BJP leaders in their notices to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla have alleged that Gandhi's comments were baseless and that he made "contemptuous, unparliamentary and dishonourable" allegations.

Several remarks made by Gandhi were expunged by the speaker.