New Delhi: Rajya Sabha chairman, Jagdeep Dhankar, summoned John Brittas, CPI (M) MP, seeking an explanation on a newspaper article in which the latter made critical remarks about Union home minister, Amit Shah.
According to The Telegraph, Brittas was initially served a notice from the Rajya Sabha secretariat and was asked to appear before Dhankar. Brittas said when he had met Dhankar and briefed him “orally” on the issue, he was asked to give his explanation in writing instead.
On February 20, Brittas’ article titled ‘Perils of Propaganda’ had appeared in Indian Express. Brittas slammed Shah for saying that only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can keep Karnataka safe, urging voters to choose his party over Congress in the poll-bound state. Referring to this, Brittas had written:
“Recently Shah’s insinuation about Kerala during a tour of Karnataka has attracted a lot of attention. He said, somewhat cryptically, that ‘only his party could keep Karnataka safe and (that) there is Kerala near you. I don’t want to say much’. This is not the first time that he has made such innuendos against a state whose people have steadfastly rejected his majoritarian politics. Nor is he the only senior leader from the BJP to trash the most literate state in this country.”
Taking objection to this article and the views expressed by Brittas, the general secretary of BJP Kerala unit, P. Sudheer, wrote to the Rajya Sabha secretariat and Dhankar seeking action against him. Sudheer said Brittas’ article amounted to be “seditious conduct”.
The CPI (M) MP said he was “shocked and baffled” that the Rajya Sabha chairman summoned him for a newspaper article. “I am aghast that the ruling party files a complaint to the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the Chairman calls me formally for a meeting to discuss the complaint from the ruling party,” Brittas told Telegraph.
“I sufficiently briefed the Hon’ble Chairman about this. But I was shocked at the entire process of a ruling party functionary filing such a complaint and the Rajya Sabha secretariat and Chairman taking cognisance of that. This entire process has absolutely shocked and baffled me,” he added.
Speaking about the meeting, Brittas said it was a “cordial discussion”. “I was called for a meeting with the Chairman (Dhankhar) and he sought my views. It was a cordial discussion and I got a chance to explain my stand, and I think he appreciated it,” the MP told Indian Express.
He hoped that the chairman would give a “befitting response” to the complainant. “The very nature of the complaint has to be condemned. I hope that the Chairman, who is the custodian of the rights of Rajya Sabha members, will give a befitting response. I am sure our Chairman, who has a sound knowledge about the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, will defend my rights,” Brittas said, according to the IE report.
Brittas said he stands by what he had written in the article. “I was (in the article) just responding to the charges made by the home minister. There is nothing wrong in it and it was published by a very reputable newspaper. It was on the premise of my basic right of freedom of speech and expression,” the Telegraph report quoted him as saying.
Brittas was, in fact, referring to a speech made in Mangaluru by Shah in February. Shah had criticised the “appeasement policies” of the Congress and said it cannot “protect” Karnataka. He added: “There is Kerala in your neighbourhood. I do not wish to speak more. Only the BJP under the leadership of Modi can protect Karnataka.”