The Congress party has filed a breach of privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly making derogatory remarks about former Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari during a speech in the Lok Sabha. The notice was submitted by Congress’s Rajya Sabha Chief Whip, Jairam Ramesh, who described the Prime Minister’s comments as “wholly unacceptable and grossly derogatory.” In his speech on July 3, during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, PM Modi implied bias in the Rajya Sabha’s Chair during the early years of his government. He stated, “No matter how many numbers they claim, when we came in 2014, our strength in the Rajya Sabha was very low, and the Chair’s inclination was somewhat on the other side,” without directly naming Mr. Ansari. Jairam Ramesh, in his letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, argued that even though Mr. Ansari was not explicitly named, the remarks were clearly directed at him. Ramesh stated, “These derogatory remarks were attributed to Mr. Ansari. The accusation of ‘leaning’ towards the Opposition made by the Prime Minister is wholly unacceptable and grossly derogatory, apart from being completely false.” Ramesh emphasized that no Prime Minister in the past had attacked a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in such a manner. He accused PM Modi of breaking parliamentary norms and decorum, thereby setting a new low for the dignity of the Prime Minister’s office. Ramesh also pointed out that making such accusations against a former Chairman who is not present to defend himself shows “gross disregard and disrespect” for the high office of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the Upper House itself. The Congress party asserts that these comments by the Prime Minister undermine the dignity of parliamentary proceedings and violate the respect due to the high offices of the former Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.