The Congress on Thursday submitted a breach of privilege notice in the Lok Sabha against Union minister Piyush Goyal for his “defamatory and undignified” remarks linking the Opposition party to Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist George Soros, Deccan Herald reported.

In a notice to Speaker Om Birla, Congress MP Manickam Tagore demanded that breach of privilege proceedings be initiated against the Union minister for accusing the party of destabilising the country.

Both Houses of Parliament have been witnessing an uproar in the past few days after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reiterated its allegations that the Congress was conspiring with Soros to destabilise the Union government.

On Wednesday, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi told the Lok Sabha that the Centre was using Soros as a shield to hide its failures in Manipur, The Indian Express reported. “The entire state is in a humanitarian crisis,” the MP from Jorhat said. “Fear and uncertainty have gripped the population.”

At least 258 persons have died and over 59,000 persons displaced since the ethnic conflict broke out between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmars communities in the state in May 2023. There was an uptick in violence in the state in November, with at least 22 persons having been killed since November 7.

In response, Goyal said that the situation in Manipur situation was being tackled at the highest level, according to The Indian Express.

“They [Congress] have to respond and let the nation know what connection is there between George Soros and all these internal disturbances,” the minister said. “The Congress party is responsible for the internal disturbances in the country and they are using the foreign forces.”

Goyal claimed that the Congress was “solely responsible” for the situation in the state. “What is the connection with the leaders of the Congress Party?…It is due to which the Congress party and George Soros-funded organisations like them are destabilising the Indian economy,” he added.

In his notice to Birla on Thursday, Tagore referred to Goyal’s remarks while responding to Gogoi and said that it was “very surprising that the minister who had as such no occasion to intervene was allowed to make such derogatory references on the floor of the House”.

The MP from Virudhunagar said that the remarks were “defamatory and undignified”, and sought action against Goyal, according to Deccan Herald.