Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali has accused Parliamentary panels of applying different standards to recent complaints filed by and against MPs from the ruling BJP.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Mr. Ali said that BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s complaint against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, which is under the purview of the Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee, is being treated differently from the Opposition’s complaints against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for using communally charged and abusive language against Mr. Ali, which is under the consideration of the LS Privileges Committee.
The established Parliamentary procedure, Mr. Ali said, is to call the complainant before the panel first, before calling the accused. “However, in contravention of all set norms, the member, who is accused of making unbecoming remarks against me, appears to have been called and it is proved by the fact that I have not been called for the committee to place my position till now,” he said. On the other hand, he pointed out, the Ethics committee which is deliberating on Mr. Dubey’s complaint against Ms. Moitra has called the BJP MP first, sticking to Parliamentary norms.
