New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha saw an uproar on Friday (December 6) after Vice President and house chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar said that a wad of Rs 500 notes had been recovered by security staff the day before from the seat occupied by Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi. 

While an investigation has been ordered, opposition members said that the event was a “diversionary tactic” against their demands to probe bribery allegations against the Adani Group and conduct discussions on the same in the House.

As the day started, members of the opposition held a protest at the parliament premises holding copies of the constitution and wearing masks that said “Modi Adani Bhai Bhai”.

Inside parliament, after the laying of the papers in the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar announced the recovery of cash that was made on Thursday.

“During the routine anti-sabotage check of the chamber after the adjournment of the House yesterday, apparently a wad of currency notes was recovered by security officials from seat number 222, presently allotted to Abhishek Manu Singhvi, elected from the state of Telangana for the term 2024-26.

“The matter was brought to my notice and I felt it expedient as per practice and ordainment to ensure that an investigation takes place in accordance with law and the same is underway,” he said.

While Dhankhar said that the notes had not been claimed by anyone, he also said that it is not clear whether they were genuine.

Singhvi, who was not present in the House at the time, said in a statement that he had not heard of the incident till then.

“Heard of it first time now. Never heard of it till now! I carry one 500 rs note when I go to RS. First time heard of it. I reached inside house at 1257 pm yday and house rose at 1 pm; then I sat in canteen till 130 pm with Sh Ayodhya Rami Reddy then I left parl!” he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, inside the House, opposition members raised protests against the chairperson’s naming Singhvi, who was not in the House.

“I request that until investigation is done and the authenticity of the incident is established, a member should not be named,” said Kharge, leading to uproar from the treasury benches.

“You are all lawyers. Can he do like this? And these people by doing such things are defaming the House.”

Amid the uproar, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Tiruchi Siva rose from his seat and alleged that a minister was prodding members of the treasury benches to create an uproar.

“Totally unfair sir,” he said to the chair.

Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju asked why there must be an objection to the chairperson naming the member concerned.

“As per the routine protocol, the anti-sabotage team checked the seats just to wind up the proceedings and the House. During that procedure, the note was found and the seat numbers were deciphered and the members also signed that day. I don't understand why there should be an objection that the chair should not take the name of the member,” Rijiju said. 

He continued: “The chairman has rightly pointed out the seat number and the member who occupies that particular seat number. What is wrong with that? Why should there be an objection?

“Don't you think that while we are going towards digital India, carrying a bundle of notes in the House is appropriate? Definitely this is not appropriate. We don't carry note bundles in the House. I fully agree with the observation of the chairman that there must be a serious investigation and the concerns raised by the members are also very genuine.”

Outside the House, Congress MP and general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the incident was a diversionary tactic being used by the BJP.

“This is the BJP's strategy, a diversionary tactic. The issues we are raising, farmers’ issues – the chairman himself has raised it – and there are many big issues. We want a discussion on the bribery allegations in the ‘Modani’ scam. So, to divert attention from these, they raise new issues,” he said.

“For the first time, I saw that today the BJP MPs were very eager to adjourn the session … We are demanding in the Lok Sabha that they should discuss the Modani scam, but the Lok Sabha is being adjourned. This is the strategy of the government that ‘you are not letting the Lok Sabha run, we will not let Rajya Sabha run’ … Running the House is the responsibility of the government. We are giving constructive cooperation … The government does not want any discussion in Rajya Sabha.”

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also said that BJP members were acting as agents of Adani to avoid a discussion on the bribery allegations.

“It is nothing but an excuse to divert attention from the Adani issue, the BJP members are sitting as agents of Adani. If cash was recovered, then there should be an investigation. It is absolutely wrong to take someone's name and imply something,” she said.

“If this is such a big issue, then bring the CBI … As an opposition, we demand that there should be an investigation. Anything can be placed on our seats. Sometimes we don’t even sit on our own seats. They should probe the incident and show the CCTV footage.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha said that if the treasury benches had shown the same intensity in probing the allegations against Adani, then the taint on the country would be washed away.

“It's a matter of concern for me … No one knows how many notes were there, except the chairman who is conducting the investigation. What is important is the amount of noise I heard from the BJP today, if they had spoken with such intensity on the Adani issue, many strings would have been opened. The taint on the country could also be washed away,” he said.

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