Abhishek Manu Singhvi said he spent a total of three minutes in the House yesterday.
Chaos erupted in Rajya Sabha this morning after a bundle of cash was found on the seat allotted to Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who reacted with a blow-by-blow account of his time in the House the previous day.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, also the chairman of Rajya Sabha, informed the MPs that security officials found the cash during the anti-sabotage check after the adjournment of the House yesterday.
“A wad of currency notes was recovered by the security officials from seat number 222 which is presently allotted to Abhishek Manu Singhvi, elected from the state of Telangana,” said Mr Dhankhar, adding that the matter is being probed.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said he had no objection to the probe, but the Chair should not have named the MP since a probe is underway.
Mr Singhvi said it was the first time he heard such an incident and claimed that he carries only Rs 500 to Rajya Sabha.
“Heard of it first time now. Never heard of it till now! I carry one 500 rs note when I go to RS. First time heard of it. I reached inside house at 12:57 pm and house rose at 1 pm then I sat in canteen till 1:30 pm then I left parl (sic),” said Mr Singhvi in an online post.
He said he spent a total of three minutes in the House yesterday and another 30 minutes at the canteen, stating that it is “bizarre” to do politics over such issues.
“Of course, there must be an inquiry. How can people come and put anything anywhere in any seat. It means that each of us must have a seat where the seat itself can be locked and the key can be carried home by the MP because everybody can then do things on the seat and make allegations about this,” said the MP.
The matter sparked uproar from both the treasury and opposition benches with BJP chief JP Nadda, Union minister and a Rajya Sabha member, terming it an “insult” to the Rajya Sabha’s integrity.
The BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Chairman was waiting for someone to claim the money, but when no one raised it, he put the matter on the floor of the House.
“Rather than claiming or clarifying, they have started opposing. It means they have so much money they don’t bother how much notes are left here and there. It maybe because there are several corruption allegations on the Congress,” he told NDTV.
