The face-off between the BJP and the Congress over controversy related to Facebook allegedly showing favours to the ruling party has spilled over in the standing committee for Information and Technology where both the parties have moved privilege motion against each other.

The Department Related Standing Committee for Information and Technology is chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

While Tharoor has moved a privilege motion notice against BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey, the latter has also moved a privilege motion notice against Tharoor as well as former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

According to sources, Tharoor on Tuesday filed a privilege motion notice against the BJP MP from Jharkhand and soon after this, Dubey took to Twitter to announce a breach of privilege motion notice against both Tharoor and Rahul for casting aspersions on the BJP as a party.

The row started when Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra attacked on her Twitter handle  a BJP lawmaker citing political agenda from the ruling  party by being critical of Tharoor for summoning Facebook before the committee.

Tharoor added to Moitra’s tweet, saying the BJP was constantly undermining the powers of the committee and also talking about the rules and role of the chairman of the body.

Dubey lashed  out at both, reminding them of the committee rules and how Tharoor had passed off his party’s political agenda as committee priority.

Dubey in his letter has understood to have said  that Tharoor had “never consulted” the agenda of summoning Facebook and/or WhatsApp in any of the meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology.

It is, therefore, according to BJP MP is “a clear case, of breach of privilege by Shashi Tharoor in the capacity of Honourable Chairperson of the Departmentally Related Standing Committee on Information Technology.”

Dubey’s notice also refers to a “breach of privilege” by  MP Rahul who had tweeted that the “BJP and RSS control Facebook and WhatsApp in India, they spread fake news and hatred thorough it and use it to influence the electorate”.