BJP MP Nishikant Dubey seeks ‘substantive motion’ against Rahul Gandhi over ‘misleading the nation’: What it means

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has presumption note for a essential question in the Lok Sabha against Leader of oppositeness Rahul Gandhi, which can theoretically lead to Gandhi's expulsion by majority vote. Dubey has sought an inquiry by a parliamentary panel into the Congress leader's “continual misdeeds for destabilizing the country" and said that his MP status be rescinded.In his notice, Dubey accused Gandhi of being "a major constituent of the Thuggery Gang to de-stabilise India from within”.Dubey expressly objected to Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha's ongoing budget session in which he referred to former Indian Army chief General MM Naravane’s unpublished book. Gandhi has said the book “exposes” PM Narendra Modi's “shirking of responsibility” during the border tension with China in 2020.Dubey has said the book-related claim was made by Gandhi with the “ulterior motive defaming the Indian Army vis-à-vis the Ministry of Defence along with shamefully involving the Prime Minister".Gen Naravane's manuscript is pending for approval with the MoD since 2023, though he has not disputed Gandhi's and others' claims being made with reference to what he has written. What does substantive motion mean?There are historical precedents of substantive motions being used to expel members, such as the 2005 cash-for-questions case whereby at least 10 LS members were expelled after a parliamentary probe committee found them guilty of taking money to raise specific queries.More recently, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, a prominent face of the national Opposition, was expelled by a House vote on such a motion, after a Parliamentary Ethics Committee found her guilty of a similar cash-for-question scandal in 2023. Moitra later won the same Krishnanagar LS seat in West Bengal in the 2024 election, and returned to the House. The central allegations against her, as well as her challenge against the expulsion, are in courts now.The Lok Sabha has the power to expel its members for serious misconduct or actions that damage the dignity of Parliament. This authority flows from Article 105 of the Constitution and parliamentary rules, even though expulsion is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution.Technically, the parliamentary instrument of substantive motion is a self-contained, independent proposal used to express the decision or opinion of the House on significant matters. Substantive is a type of motion, and all major motions such as for removal of a judge, impeachment of President, or a no-confidence motion are substantive in nature.In simpler words, it is a formal proposal placed before the House for discussion and decision. If admitted by the Speaker, it entails a debate followed by a compulsory vote.Previously, Congress and the opposition have given notice for such a motion of no confidence against the then Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and now the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.But the majority is with the BJP-led NDA, which is why Rahul Gandhi stares at possible expulsion.Rahul Gandhi faces Nishikant Dubey's serious allegationsA substantive motion is different, usually considered more directly actionable than a breach-of-privilege notice or motion.The BJP was earlier considering a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi, as was confirmed by parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju; but Nishikant Dubey later said a substantive motion will now seek that not only Gandhi be expelled but also be banned from contesting elections for the rest of his life.Dubey's allegations include that Rahul Gandhi is “misleading the country” and making “baseless and unsubstantiated allegations”, such as on former Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane's unpublished book and the recent India-US trade deal.He also said this was not the first time Rahul Gandhi attempted to create controversy with the objective of “defaming” the government — whether in defence, finance, commerce or external affairs.He accused Gandhi of being an “active conduit of Soros Foundation, which is notorious, world-wide, in de-stabilising various countries for the benefit of their client States”.Rahul Gandhi had named minister Hardeep Singh Puri in the Lok Sabha in the context of Puri's name appearing in files related to convicted American sex-offender Jeffery Epstein. People aware of the developments told HT that the government would not move a privilege motion. Hardeep Puri would “respond himself” to the allegations. Puri has already said he had nothing to do with Epstein's crimes, and had met him in the course of some professional engagements as a private citizen.A separate notice under Rule 380 was submitted by BJP chief whip Sanjay Jaiswal seeking expungement of at least four lines from Gandhi’s speech on Wednesday.What Rahul, Congress said on BJP movesRahul Gandhi, when asked about the BJP's moves, snapped at the media, saying they were blindly following BJP directives."Is that the code word for today? Tell me the code word in advance. Yesterday it was 'authenticate', and today it is 'privilege motion'," he said, responding to reporters outside Parliament."You are not totally employed by the BJP. At least try to do a little bit of objective stuff; it gets really shameful; it's too much. You are responsible people. You are media people; you have a responsibility to be objective. You can't just take a word they give you... Every day, run your whole show on that. You are doing a disservice to this country," he said.Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said, “We are not bothered about any motions; and if you want to hang us, we are ready for that also.”He lashed out at the government over Gandhi's certain remarks in the House being expunged from the records on Wednesday, saying questions were asked as to why "we took an extreme position" to submit a notice for no-confidence motion for removal of Om Birla as Lok Sabha speaker.“We have not been getting justice from the (Lok Sabha) chair,” Venugopal said, “Whatever Rahul ji said is completely expunged from the records. Whatever (finance minister) Nirmala Sitharaman said, the same remarks were included in the records. The government has double standards... This Parliament is running for the government, not for the opposition.”When Rahul lost membership before over Modi surnameVenugopal also mentioned the instance when Rahul Gandhi had lost his membership three years ago, only to get it back.In March 2023, Gandhi was disqualified as MP following his sentencing by a court in Surat, Gujarat, to two-year imprisonment for having “defamed” the Modi surname and the BJP. By August 2023, the Supreme Court stayed his conviction, which led to his formal reinstatement by the Lok Sabha secretariat within days."What happened afterwards was that people ensured his victory with more votes compared to that of Modi ji… We will continue to tell the truth in Parliament," Venugopal said.In the 2024 election, Rahul Gandhi won two seats — Rae Bareli in UP and Wayanad in Kerala, retaining the former as he could only keep one as per rules.His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra entered the Lok Sabha in the Wayanad LS bypoll.She also commented on actions being taken against Rahul Gandhi. "They will do FIR, cases and whatnot against Rahul Gandhi, but nothing is going to affect him," she said.