India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that opposition Congress' parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi be reprimanded for making unsubstantiated remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament.
On Tuesday, speaking in parliament, Gandhi displayed a picture of Prime Minister Modi and billionaire Gautam Adani, asking why they were so close. He also listed the deals signed between Adani and the government since 2014, when Narendra Modi's government came into power.
Gandhi's remarks were prompted by the Hindenburg-Adani case where, in January, US-based short-selling research agencies accused Adani's conglomerate of widespread manipulation and accounting fraud, among other things.
Because of his allegations, BJP parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey wrote to the speaker of the Lok Sabha [Lower House], Om Birla, accusing Gandhi of "misleading the House" by making comments against Prime Minister Modi without any "documentary evidence".
"These statements are misleading, derogatory, indecent, unparliamentary, undignified and incriminatory in nature to the dignity of the House and Hon'ble Prime Minister being a Member of Lok Sabha," he wrote.
"This conduct is in clear violation of the privileges of the House and its members, besides being a clear case of contempt of the House. I request you to take immediate action against Shri Rahul Gandhi for breach of privilege and contempt of House," Dubey added.