Lok Sabha was disrupted for close to 30 minutes on Tuesday when Samata Party member Prabhunath Singh alleged that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi accepted money from her late husband Rajiv Gandhi's younger brother Sanjay on an illegitimate business deal.
Sheer bedlam prevailed in the house after Singh, participating in the discussion on the no-confidence motion, referred to an article by a columnist, which made the allegation.
Complete coverage of the no-confidence motion
The allegation had Congress members Shivraj Patil, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Renuka Chaudhary and others literally baying for the Samata member's blood.
Patil told the speaker, after referring to rules 352 and 353 of the House, that parliamentary procedure did not allow any member to make defamatory and incriminatory allegations.
"This gentleman has been making malicious allegations against the honourable members of the House and the records should not be polluted by them," Patil said.
Patil also quoted from the authoritative book on parliamentary procedure by Kaul and Shakdher to prove his point.
Patil pleaded the speaker should expunge the allegations from the records and act decisively to end such defamation in the House.
Singh also referred to chief Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy's comments when he was in the Janata Party.
Singh alleged that on August 3, 1987, Reddy made unflattering references to Sonia Gandhi as the 'foreign wife' and to the 'Italian marble' issue.
Reddy, however, denied making any comments on Sonia Gandhi, while admitting the reference to 'Italian marble'.
Congress member Buta Singh shouted, "We do not want to hear this nonsense."
Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley contended that while rule 352 might be pertinent on Singh, rule 353 did not because the opposition members too were making similar allegations.
When the uproar subsided a little, Speaker Manohar Joshi, giving his ruling on the point of order raised by Patil, said allegations by both sections of the house were uncalled for and they should be immediately stopped to preserve the House's dignity.
Jaitley pointed out the Congress chief too had been making allegations of corruption against Defence Minister George Fernandes.
The din and disorder commenced again when the speaker allowed Singh to conclude. Singh maintained the people should come to know the 'secret' behind the Congress chief.
He also said that if any member had any criminal evidence against him, he should come forward.
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