New Delhi: Congress General Secretary and MP Jairam Ramesh A privilege breach motion was moved in the Rajya Sabha against the Union Education Minister dharmendra pradhanHe was accused of misleading the House (Rajya Sabha) on the issue of removal of senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani. Preface From NCERT textbooks.
The Congress leader said in the notice, “I am giving a notice of privilege under Rule 187 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for misleading the House.”
Jairam Ramesh referred to the statement of Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in the Upper House on Wednesday in which he had raised the issue of removal of preamble, to which the Education Minister replied that “even the recent new books of Class 6 have preamble.”
The Congress MP said that the statement given by Pradhan in response to the Leader of Opposition was factually incorrect and misleading.
He said in the notice, “This claim by Dharmendra Pradhan is factually incorrect and misleading. In support of my argument, I enclose copies of a Class 3 textbook ‘Looking Around’ (Environmental Studies), November 2022 edition, a textbook in Hindi ‘Rimjhim-3’ November 2022 edition and a Class 6 textbook ‘Honeysuckle’, December 2022 edition. Both these textbooks have included the Preamble of the Constitution as was done in the previous editions of the textbooks.”
He said, “On the other hand, the textbook titled ‘Our Wonderful World’ for Class 3 students, June 2024 edition, the textbook titled ‘Veena’ in Hindi, June 2024 edition and the textbook titled ‘Purvi’ for Class 6 students/ June 2024 edition/ Preamble to the Constitution have been omitted.”
“Thereafter, you inter alia said, “….if he is wrong, it is a breach of privilege….(Interruption)….if what the Minister is saying is wrong, it is a breach of privilege…..” The relevant extracts from the Rajya Sabha debate dated 7th August, 2024 as well as the textbooks referred to above are enclosed for reference,” Jairam Ramesh said in the notice.
The Congress general secretary said the removal of the preamble was a grave insult to the concept of creating awareness among the youth and requested the Upper House Chairman to initiate breach of privilege proceedings against Pradhan in this regard.
He said, “The non-inclusion of the Preamble of the Constitution in the textbooks of school children is a grave affront to the concept of creating awareness about the spirit of the Constitution of India among the youth of this country. This was the point argued by the Leader of the Opposition while raising the matter during Zero Hour on 7th August 2024. The arguments advanced by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan while opposing the claims made by me in the House in this regard, as already stated, are fallacious.”
“It is well established that misleading and misrepresenting facts in the House amounts to a breach of privilege and contempt of the House. I, therefore, request you to initiate privilege proceedings against Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in this regard,” the Congress leader said in the notice.
Earlier, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP government of removing the preamble from NCERT textbooks.
“It is reported that the Preamble of the Constitution has been removed from the Constitution.” NCERT BooksKharge said, “The preamble has been removed from NCERT textbooks, it was printed in the books earlier. The preamble is the soul and spirit of the Constitution.”
Quoting the Constituent Assembly speech of November 25, 1949 which said, “We must make our political democracy a social democracy also. A political democracy cannot survive unless the life of the people has as its basis the social democracy. What is meant by social democracy is a way of life which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity. As principles of life, these principles of liberty, equality and fraternity should not be regarded as separate objects in a trinity. They form a union of the trinity in the sense that the one must be distinct and separate from the other.”
He criticised the government for allegedly removing the statues of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi and tampering with the Constitution.
He said, “The BJP removed the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar after winning the elections and is now amending the Constitution. He warned that people will not accept it. The RSS and BJP are imposing their communal thinking on the citizens of India. The step taken by NCERT is not right.”
This allegation was strongly opposed by the ruling party and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar intervened during the debate.
Meanwhile, Pradhan lashed out at the Congress party, saying that they are only engaged in spreading lies and confusion.
Speaking on the allegations of removal of preamble from NCERT books, Pradhan said, “The Congress party is engaged in spreading lies and confusion. We expect that a person holding a responsible position like the Leader of Opposition should not mislead the House. Modiji’s government is committed to the Constitution…he should apologise to the country.”
He further said that during the Zero Hour discussion in Parliament, the Leader of Opposition raised certain issues which were beyond facts and he clarified in the House the matter of alleged removal of Preamble from NCERT Class VI textbooks.
He said, “Today during the Zero Hour, the Leader of the Opposition raised some points which were beyond facts. Citing a newspaper, he alleged that the topic of Preamble, which was in NCERT’s Class VI books, has now been removed. I clarified the matter with the permission of the Speaker of the House.”
He said, “Recently new textbooks have been released for Class VI. Topics such as Preamble of the Constitution, Fundamental Duties, Fundamental Rights, National Anthem etc. have been included in all the books as compared to earlier.”
The Congress leader said in the notice, “I am giving a notice of privilege under Rule 187 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for misleading the House.”
Jairam Ramesh referred to the statement of Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in the Upper House on Wednesday in which he had raised the issue of removal of preamble, to which the Education Minister replied that “even the recent new books of Class 6 have preamble.”
The Congress MP said that the statement given by Pradhan in response to the Leader of Opposition was factually incorrect and misleading.
He said in the notice, “This claim by Dharmendra Pradhan is factually incorrect and misleading. In support of my argument, I enclose copies of a Class 3 textbook ‘Looking Around’ (Environmental Studies), November 2022 edition, a textbook in Hindi ‘Rimjhim-3’ November 2022 edition and a Class 6 textbook ‘Honeysuckle’, December 2022 edition. Both these textbooks have included the Preamble of the Constitution as was done in the previous editions of the textbooks.”
He said, “On the other hand, the textbook titled ‘Our Wonderful World’ for Class 3 students, June 2024 edition, the textbook titled ‘Veena’ in Hindi, June 2024 edition and the textbook titled ‘Purvi’ for Class 6 students/ June 2024 edition/ Preamble to the Constitution have been omitted.”
“Thereafter, you inter alia said, “….if he is wrong, it is a breach of privilege….(Interruption)….if what the Minister is saying is wrong, it is a breach of privilege…..” The relevant extracts from the Rajya Sabha debate dated 7th August, 2024 as well as the textbooks referred to above are enclosed for reference,” Jairam Ramesh said in the notice.
The Congress general secretary said the removal of the preamble was a grave insult to the concept of creating awareness among the youth and requested the Upper House Chairman to initiate breach of privilege proceedings against Pradhan in this regard.
He said, “The non-inclusion of the Preamble of the Constitution in the textbooks of school children is a grave affront to the concept of creating awareness about the spirit of the Constitution of India among the youth of this country. This was the point argued by the Leader of the Opposition while raising the matter during Zero Hour on 7th August 2024. The arguments advanced by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan while opposing the claims made by me in the House in this regard, as already stated, are fallacious.”
“It is well established that misleading and misrepresenting facts in the House amounts to a breach of privilege and contempt of the House. I, therefore, request you to initiate privilege proceedings against Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in this regard,” the Congress leader said in the notice.
Earlier, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP government of removing the preamble from NCERT textbooks.
“It is reported that the Preamble of the Constitution has been removed from the Constitution.” NCERT BooksKharge said, “The preamble has been removed from NCERT textbooks, it was printed in the books earlier. The preamble is the soul and spirit of the Constitution.”
Quoting the Constituent Assembly speech of November 25, 1949 which said, “We must make our political democracy a social democracy also. A political democracy cannot survive unless the life of the people has as its basis the social democracy. What is meant by social democracy is a way of life which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity. As principles of life, these principles of liberty, equality and fraternity should not be regarded as separate objects in a trinity. They form a union of the trinity in the sense that the one must be distinct and separate from the other.”
He criticised the government for allegedly removing the statues of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi and tampering with the Constitution.
He said, “The BJP removed the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar after winning the elections and is now amending the Constitution. He warned that people will not accept it. The RSS and BJP are imposing their communal thinking on the citizens of India. The step taken by NCERT is not right.”
This allegation was strongly opposed by the ruling party and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar intervened during the debate.
Meanwhile, Pradhan lashed out at the Congress party, saying that they are only engaged in spreading lies and confusion.
Speaking on the allegations of removal of preamble from NCERT books, Pradhan said, “The Congress party is engaged in spreading lies and confusion. We expect that a person holding a responsible position like the Leader of Opposition should not mislead the House. Modiji’s government is committed to the Constitution…he should apologise to the country.”
He further said that during the Zero Hour discussion in Parliament, the Leader of Opposition raised certain issues which were beyond facts and he clarified in the House the matter of alleged removal of Preamble from NCERT Class VI textbooks.
He said, “Today during the Zero Hour, the Leader of the Opposition raised some points which were beyond facts. Citing a newspaper, he alleged that the topic of Preamble, which was in NCERT’s Class VI books, has now been removed. I clarified the matter with the permission of the Speaker of the House.”
He said, “Recently new textbooks have been released for Class VI. Topics such as Preamble of the Constitution, Fundamental Duties, Fundamental Rights, National Anthem etc. have been included in all the books as compared to earlier.”
