Budget Session: Pralhad Joshi urges Oppn to raise only budget related issues in Parliament

After several Opposition MPs demanded a Privilege motion against Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over Pegasus row, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday asserted that only issues related to the Budget should be raised in the Parliament. 

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and other MPs demanded the initiation of a privilege motion against Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for 'misleading parliament' on the Pegasus row. Congress' Chowdhury alleged that the Modi government had lied to the Supreme Court by writing in its affidavit 'unequivocally, we deny any and all of the allegations against the Government'.

While addressing a press meet, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said, "Many parties have raised the Pegasus issue. We have made it clear that the Supreme Court-appointed committee is investigating the matter and that issues related to the Budget should be raised (in the first part of the Budget session)."

"25 parties participated in today's all-party meeting. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on behalf of the Govt, said that only the President's address and tabling of the Budget happen in the first half of the Budget session. Other issues can be raised in the second part of the session. We have said that if the parties cooperate in smooth functioning of the Parliament, Govt is ready to discuss all issues. We hope that this session will run smoothly," Pralhad Joshi added. 

Centre says 'Matter Is Sub-judice' 

Earlier in the day, Prahlad Joshi said that the motion was not strong enough. Refusing to comment on it, Joshi said that the matter is sub-judice and it was not right for anyone to comment on it. A New York Times (NYT) report claims that the Modi govt purchased NSO's Pegasus spyware in 2017.

On Friday, the New York Times (NYT) claimed that the Indian Government had finalised a deal with the Israeli government regarding the sale of Pegasus in 2017. In the report, NYT alleged that India and Israel 'had agreed on $2 Billion weapons /intelligence package sale with Pegasus and a missile system as the centerpieces' when PM Modi met Netanyahu in Israel.