Raghav Chadha, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker, was expelled from the Rajya Sabha on Friday for “breach of privilege” following accusations of “fraud.”
The action was taken in response to a complaint by four MPs who said he named them in a house panel against their will.
When announcing Chadha’s suspension, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar stated, “I suspend Raghav Chadha from the service of the Council until the Council has the benefit of the report by the Committee of Privileges.”
His suspension came as a result of a motion made by the House Leader Piyush Goyal, who demanded that the AAP leader be punished for improperly including the names of some Upper House members in a proposed select committee for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
However, the AAP claims that Raghav’s press conference yesterday defending himself in the alleged breach situation is what prompted the suspension.
“The terms forgery or false, signatures, farziwada, etc., are not referenced anywhere in Piyush Goyal’s motion for suspension or notice delivered by the privilege committee. It makes absolutely no claims to this effect. The House Leader also cited passages from the press conference on August 10, 2023, and used the example of a birthday invitation to illustrate the consent procedure, the party claimed.
Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, accused fraud earlier on August 8 in the Rajya Sabha after five MPs of the Upper House — S Phangnon Konyak, Narhari Amin, Sudhanshu Trivedi, and M Thambidurai of the BJP, M Thambidurai of the AIADMK and Sasmit Patra of the BJD — claimed that their names were included in a motion made by Chadha in the House without their permission.
Sasmit Patra of the BJD and Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi of the BJP both claim that they did not sign the motion made by AAP MP Raghav Chadha to join the select committee. Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated in the Rajya Sabha on the Delhi Services Bill that “it is now a matter of investigation how the motion was signed.”
