New Delhi: Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal has moved a privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that he had cast aspersions on members of the Opposition during his address to the nation on April 18.
Apart from violating the Model Code of Conduct, the PM used a national address to attack Opposition parties, Venugopal alleged.
In his notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Alappuzha MP Venugopal said that the Prime Minister “addresses the nation on a critical matter of national concern” and such addresses are “few and far between”, but using a national address to criticise Opposition parties over a defeat in parliament is “unprecedented” and “constitutes a serious breach of privilege and contempt of the House.”
“Addressing the Nation by the Prime Minister on Government not able to muster requisite majority in Parliament, for criticising the opposition parties is unprecedented which is unethical and blatant abuse of power,” Venugopal wrote.
“Such statements by the highest executive functionary of the country constitute a serious breach of privilege and contempt of the House.”
For the first time in 12 years since Modi took over as Prime Minister, the Central government failed to pass a constitutional amendment Bill. The Bill sought to expand the strength of Lok Sabha to “operationalise” women’s reservation through a controversial delimitation exercise, but didn’t get two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha on Friday.
The day after, Modi decided to address the nation, blaming the Opposition for the failure of the Bill’s passage in Parliament and accused Congress and its allies of committing ‘bhrun hatya’ (foeticide).
Venugopal made the point that during his 29-minute address to the nation on the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2026 in Lok Sabha, Modi made “direct reflections on the voting pattern of Members of the Opposition and attributed motives to them.”
“It is well established that casting reflections, aspersions, imputing motives to members of parliament in regard to speeches made by them in Parliament tantamount to gross breach of privilege and contempt of the House,” Venugopal said.
He further stated that Opposition members had “categorically stated that they unanimously supported reservation for women in Lok Sabha,” during the debate in Lok Sabha on April 16 and 17.
“In this regard the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act 2023 was unanimously adopted by both Houses of Parliament way back in September, 2023. As a matter of fact the Opposition specifically demanded that the reservation of women in Lok Sabha be urgently implemented fast tracking all the requirements as enunciated in Constitution and other statutory provisions. In so far as Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2026, in the guise of implementing Women’s reservations in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies surreptitiously sought to amend Article 82 of the Constitution,” Venugopal wrote.
He explained that the Opposition members were only raising these concerns and it has been parliamentary convention and a fundamental privilege of every member that no person including the Prime Minister “shall reflect upon the conduct or voting of any member in the House or attribute motives to such conduct.”
“Any such reflection or imputation directly undermines the dignity and authority of the House and interferes with the free and independent discharge of parliamentary duties by its members. Apart from the violation of the Model Code of Conduct, the Prime Minister’s speech on national television therefore amounts to a clear and serious breach of privilege of the House and of every Member of the opposition,” he concluded.
