BJP MP urges Rajya Sabha chairman to initiate proceedings against Kerala CM

A BJP MP on Tuesday urged Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu for initiating breach of Parliament privileges and contempt proceedings against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after the state assembly passed a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Noting that the resolution was moved by Vijayan, BJP's Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao wrote to Naidu that if the chief minister's "misdemeanour and ill-conceived" statements and actions go unchecked, it will set a dangerous precedent and lead to administrative chaos and constitutional mayhem in the country.

"What (then) stops one state legislature from passing a similar resolution against another state government or Parliament passing resolutions against bills passed by state governments to gain political one-upmanship?" Rao said in a communication to Naidu.

As a member of the Rajya Sabha committee on privileges, Rao called upon the House's chairman to take cognizance of this breach and refer this subject for discussion to the committee in its meeting scheduled on January 3.

"The action of the Kerala chief minister is a breach of parliamentary privileges and the committee shall consider all appropriate means available to it to initiate contempt proceedings against Pinarayi Vijayan," Rao said.

The Kerala Assembly earlier passed a resolution demanding scrapping of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), becoming the first state in the country to do so.