Rajya Sabha Chairman Reveals Currency Notes Found Under Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s Seat.
On December 6, 2024, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar informed the House that a routine anti-sabotage check conducted after the previous day’s adjournment led to the discovery of a wad of currency notes under seat number 222. This seat is currently assigned to Congress Member of Parliament Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represents Telangana.
Chairman Dhankhar stated, “I hereby inform the members that during the routine anti-sabotage check of the chamber 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.” He added that the matter was promptly brought to his attention, and an investigation is currently underway.
Singhvi’s First Reaction
In the first reaction to the controversy, Singhvi said that he just carries one currency note of Rs 500 to the Parliament, adding that he had never heard such a thing for the first time. “Never heard of it till now. I carry one Rs 500 note when I go to Rajya Sabha,” Singhvi said.
“I am quite astonished to even hear about it. I never heard of it. I reached the inside of the House yesterday at 12.57 pm. The House rose at 1 pm. From 1 to 1:30 pm, I sat with Ayodhya Prasad in the canteen and had lunch. At 1:30 pm, I left Parliament. So my total stay in the House yesterday was 3 minutes and my stay in the canteen was 30 minutes. I find it bizarre that even on such issues politics is raised,” Singhvi said.
Demanding a probe into the matter, the Congress MP said, “Of course there must be an inquiry as to how people can 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. If it was not tragic and serious it would be comical. I think everybody should cooperate in getting to the bottom of this and if there is a failing in the security agencies that must also be completely exposed…”