Leader of the DMK parliamentary party T.R. Baalu on Friday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, demanding the expunging of the “misleading” and “defamatory” remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Tamil Nadu Public Works Minister E.V. Velu over a recent speech of his.
In their replies to a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Modi and Ms. Irani attacked the DMK and the Congress by citing Mr. Velu’s speech, in which he had reportedly said the word ‘India’ did not have any impact on his party once upon a time.
Attaching a copy of the video of Mr. Velu’s speech at an awards function in Chennai on August 5, 2023, Mr. Baalu said Mr. Modi and Ms. Irani had misled the House by misquoting the Tamil Nadu Minister.
He said their remarks should be expunged, as they were “against records, misleading, casting aspersions, defamatory, and incriminatory in nature”. Moreover, he argued that since Mr. Velu was not a member of the Lok Sabha, the allegations should not have been made against him in his absence, without providing advance notice to the Speaker.
He said the remarks of Mr. Modi and Ms. Irani on August 10 and 9, respectively, should be expunged, as they were against the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha.
