'Will Decide on Privilege or Ethics Panel After Speaker's Nod': Rijiju says Govt drops planned motion against Rahul Gandhi after Nishikant Dubey's substantive move

Feb 13, 2026

New Delhi [India], February 13 : Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday said that the government has decided to drop its proposed Motion against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over bringing an unpublished memoir of former Army Chief Naravane and his remarks during his budget speech in the Parliament.
Speaking to the media, Rijiju said the Centre withdrew the motion after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moved a Substantive Motion in the House against the Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition.
He further said that once the Substantive Motion is admitted, the government will consult the Speaker to decide whether the matter should be referred to the Privilege Committee, the Ethics Committee, or taken up directly in the House for discussion.

Rijiju said, "The government had decided to move a Motion. Rahul Gandhi violated rules and mentioned an unpublished book in an illegal manner; he also mentioned several things in his Budget speech - 'country sold out' and other nonsense for the PM. There are several issues over which we wanted to give him a notice. Private Member Nishikant Dubey has brought a Substantive Motion, so for now, we are dropping the Motion that the Government was going to bring."
"Any MP can bring a Motion. After the Substantive Motion is admitted, we will decide after discussing with the Speaker whether we can send this to the Privilege Committee or Ethics Committee or bring this directly to the House to discuss. It will be decided," he said.
This comes after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey earlier wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging the House to constitute a dedicated Parliamentary Inquiry Committee to investigate Rahul Gandhi's "unethical conduct" following his recent speech in Parliament.
In the letter addressed to Birla, Dubey cited constitutional responsiblity to highlight the misdemeanours of the Congress leader, saying that he has become a major part of the "Thuggery gang to de-stabilise the country from within."
He alleged that Gandhi is an active member of the "Ford Foundation," which is a very notorious organisation, further claiming that it funds all of Gandhi's lavish foreign travels.
Earlier in the day, reiterating his "unethical conduct" allegations against Rahul Gandhi, Dubey has questioned whether the Congress MP was "planning India's partition for the sake of gaining power."
In a post on X, Dubey shared documents which he described as "accusations" against Rahul Gandhi, whom he referred to as the "ringleader of the tukde-tukde gang."
"My accusations against Soros, the Ford Foundation, and the ringleader of the "tukde-tukde gang" Rahul Gandhi Ji are these, for which I have sought permission from the Lok Sabha Speaker to debate. Is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha planning India's partition for the sake of gaining power?" Dubey wrote on 'X'.
The controversy erupted after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi quoted excerpts from the unpublished book of the ex-Army Chief in Parliament. The Speaker passed a ruling, asking the LoP not to quote unpublished literature.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi strongly criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he has a "chokehold around his neck" and has "sold the country and farmers". The Congress leader asserted that he would not "step back even an inch" even if a Privilege Motion was filed against him.

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