Opposition MPs wrote a letter to Om Birla, alleging violation of code of conduct in JPC meeting

On Tuesday, many opposition MPs wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla accusing gross violation of the code of conduct in the JPC committee meeting. The MPs have urged Om Birla in the letter, asking him to step in right away and remind committee chairman Jagdambika Pal of his need to maintain parliamentary procedures and be bipartisan.

Regarding the opposition, Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, Imran Masood, DMK MPs A Raja, MM Abdullah, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee stated in the letter that Chairman Jagdambika Pal had conducted the committee's procedures in a biassed manner. The letter from the MPs stated that the Speaker's invitation for Anwar Manipaddi to testify before the committee is outside the purview and authority of the committee. We kindly ask that you take immediate action in this case and that you remind the Committee Chairman of his responsibility to act bilaterally and uphold parliamentary rules.

Regarding the JPC meeting, opposition MPs stated that despite strong protests from several committee members that Kharge holds a constitutional post of high dignity and should not be present, the Speaker allowed the witness to speak. Along with this, the opposition members claimed that Pal did not give the committee members enough time to register their protest. The opposition MPs' resentment comes a day after several of them boycotted the committee meeting over the statement of former Karnataka State Minority Commission Chairman Anwar Manipaddi, in which he named several opposition leaders, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and K Rahman Khan, in the alleged embezzlement of Waqf properties.