NK Premachandran, a leader of the RSP, which is a constituent of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala, gave the notice to the Speaker's office on Friday,
Wielding another weapon in the Opposition armour in a bid to embarrass the government, a Lok Sabha member has given notice for a censure motion in Lok Sabha against external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj saying she had misused her office to help former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.
NK Premachandran, a leader of the RSP, which is a constituent of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala, gave the notice to the Speaker's office on Friday, even as the House continued to be disrupted with the Opposition insisting on resignations of BJP leaders facing the heat in Vyapam scam and Lalit Modi row before taking up any discussion in the House.
If admitted, the censure motion would be discussed under rule 184, which entails voting. With the BJP-led government is in a majority in Lok Sabha, the motion, which expresses disapproval of the minister's conduct, if take up and put to vote will be defeated but could cause discomfiture to the government.
The notice has been sent for comments of the external affairs minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to sources.
Premachandran has given the notice citing six grounds -- impropriety, conflict of interest, violation of oath of office by granting "undue" favour to Lalit Modi, ministry not appealing to Supreme Court against cancellation of revoking Modi's passport, lacking bonafides by not taking ministry into confidence and the Prime Minister not being taken into confidence.
The veteran MP has taken Congress leaders into confidence on the notice, sources said. While the government has made it clear that it was ready for a discussion in the House, the Congress and some other Opposition parties have rejected the offer saying Swaraj and chief ministers — Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan — should first step down. The ruling side has ruled out giving in to the Opposition demand for resignations. If Premachandran's censure motion is admitted, it would mean having a debate in the House, which the Opposition has been resisting.
A censure motion is generally moved by the Opposition against a specific policy of government or against a minister or ministers. Under rule 184, even if the motion gets the approval of the House, the minister is not bound to resign but it could amount to loss of face for the government.
So far, only five such notices for censure motion have been admitted against ministers in the House, sources said. The last one against a minister was in 2000, when S Jaipal Reddy moved a motion seeking the removal of three Cabinet Ministers — LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti — and disapproving the stand taken by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the Ayodhya issue. The motion was rejected after a 15-hour debate.
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