Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose on Thursday submitted a privilege motion notice against Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju for making a derogatory remark against opposition leaders in the Upper House.
The privilege motion notice has been signed by 60 leaders from opposition parties, a source said.
"Yesterday in the house, addressing the opposition, Mr. Rijiju said you all are not worthy of being in this house... The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Kiren Rijiju, instead of doing his best to run Parliament smoothly, has chosen to repeatedly insult the opposition," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
The TMC MP said that Rijiju has insulted opposition members and used personal terms both inside and outside Parliament. This is totally unbecoming of the high office he holds and amounts to total misuse of his position, she said.
The parliamentarian further said she had moved a privilege motion against Rijiju for abusing his office with his diatribes and unparliamentary language against opposition.
Today, I have given a privilege motion against Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. We believe that it is Kiren Rijiju's responsibility to ensure that the House runs smoothly. However, Kiren Rijiju is constantly humiliating the opposition. We want that his statement against the opposition leaders should be expunged," the MP said.
The motion has been signed by senior leaders of all opposition parties, she added.
The move of the opposition leader comes a day after Kiren Rijiju's remark over the opposition's notice for removal of Vice President and and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. Hitting out at the opposition, Rijiu said that the opposition MPs are not worthy of being in the House.
The senior BJP leader alleged that the Congress has submitted the notice against Dhankhar to hide its misdeeds and distract attention from the reports of its links with US billionaire George Soros and anti-India activities of outfits linked to him.
Rijiju said the Congress and its allies have time and again insulted the Chair and not adhered to the directions issued by the presiding officers. "If you cannot respect the chair you have no right to be a member of this House," Rijiju said.
Sixty MPs from the opposition INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice in the Rajya Sabha for moving a no-confidence motion against Dhankhar. They have accused him of being extremely partisan in his role as the chairman of the Upper House.
If the motion is moved, the opposition parties need a simple majority to get it passed, but they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House. Opposition members, however, insisted that it was a strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy.