In a rare move, Rajya Sabha removes from record a word from PM Modi’s speech

February 7: In a rare move, a word from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Rajya Sabha was expunged from records. The prime minister had accused the Opposition of spreading lies (jhooth) about the National Population Register. The word “jhooth” was expunged from the parliamentary records.

A word was also removed from comments made by opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress. Azad had in his speech used the word mislead (gumraah) with reference to the actions of the government. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu expunged the word used by Modi on Thursday during his reply to the discussion on a motion thanking the President for his address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament at the start of the Budget session.

Naidu routinely expunges any remark found unsuitable from the Rajya Sabha’s records after going through the proceedings of the day. This has been done on several occasions but rarely was any remark of Modi expunged. Parliament has a large compilation of unparliamentary words. Every year, new words are added to the list.