Congress leader Jairam Ramesh submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, alleging that Shah misled the Rajya Sabha with his strong claims about the Centre’s early warnings to the Kerala government prior to the Wayanad landslides, which have since been shown to be untrue.

Ramesh, who is the Congress’ chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, said in his letter to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar that in his response to a Calling Attention on the Wayanad landslides in the Rajya Sabha on July 31, 2024, the home minister made several claims about early warning systems and how the Kerala government did not use them despite alerts being issued by the Union government well in advance of the tragedy.

“These claims have been extensively fact-checked in the media. One such detailed fact-check published in The Hindu dated August 2, 2024 is attached,” Ramesh said in his letter, which was also signed by Congress’ deputy leader in the House Pramod Tiwari and senior leader Digvijaya Singh.

Ramesh further added that it is clear that the Union home minister misled the Rajya Sabha by his emphatic statements on early warnings issued by the Union government which have been proven to be false. It is well established that misleading the House by a minister or a member constitutes a breach of privilege and contempt of the House, the Congress leader pointed out. “Under these circumstances, we submit that privilege proceedings may be initiated against the Union home minister in this matter,” Ramesh stated.

Shah had informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the Kerala government had received several warnings from the Centre about potential floods and landslides, beginning as early as July 23. That same day, nine NDRF teams were dispatched to the state.

Shah further stated in the Rajya Sabha, during the brief interruption of a motion to call attention to the Wayanad landslip tragedy, that the Kerala government, however, disregarded the prior warnings and was not even informed when the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) battalions arrived.

The India Meteorological Department issued regular forecasts for significant rainfall activity along India’s west coast, according to IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra on Thursday. The department also issued a red alert for Kerala early on July 30, the day that landslides in Wayanad district claimed over 150 lives.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan refuted Shah’s assertion on Wednesday, stating that the IMD had only issued an orange signal in the district prior to the landslides. He did, however, note that the district’s rainfall total of over 572 mm was much greater than the IMD’s prediction.

(with inputs from PTI)