New Delhi, Mar 11: The Rajya Sabha witnessed an uproar on Tuesday over an unparliamentary remark by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, who apologised to the Chair while clarifying that it was meant for the government that was “trying to create a regional divide” in the country.
As the Upper House took up a discussion on the working of the Education Ministry soon after the Question Hour, several opposition members were on their feet demanding an apology from minister Dharmendra Pradhan for his remarks against the Tamil Nadu government.
Pradhan on Monday slammed the Tamil Nadu government for its stand on the three-language policy under the National Education Policy (NEP), accusing it of “ruining the future of the students” in the state for politics
On Tuesday, as Deputy Chairman Harivansh called Congress leader Digvijay Singh to initiate a discussion on the working of the education ministry, DMK MPs, who came dressed in black to oppose delimitation and NEP, were on their feet demanding an apology from Pradhan.
Amid the uproar, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge stood up to intervene.
Even though the Chair said the Congress president had already been given an opportunity to speak in the morning, Kharge said the education minister was not in the House at that time. “This is a dictatorship,” he said.
As the Chair said it was Singh’s turn to speak, Kharge said the opposition was prepared to corner the government.
Karge used a Hindi expression to mean that the opposition would “hit back” at the government, leading to an uproar from the treasury benches that claimed the expression was “unparliamentary”.
Leader of the House JP Nadda intervened and said the expression used by the Leader of Opposition is condemnable.
“The language used by the Leader of Opposition, the aspersions on the chair, is condemnable… This is to be condemned by one and all. The words and language used for the Chair is unpardonable, still he should apologise and the word should be expunged,” he said.
Kharge immediately apologised for using the expression, and also clarified that it was not meant for the chair but for government policies. “I am sorry, I was not speaking about you, it was about government policies. I am sorry if you were hurt by my remarks, I apologise to you,” he said.
“You are hurting the self-respect of a part of this country and people, and calling them uncultured and uncivilised… The minister should be asked to resign. They are talking about dividing and breaking the country,” Kharge said.
Nadda said it is good that Kharge apologised to the Chair, and appreciated his gesture, adding the remarks are still condemnable if they were meant for the government.
The Chair then called Digvijay Singh to speak who initiated the debate on the working of the Education Ministry.
During his reply in Lok Sabha on the Central funds for the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme on Monday, Pradhan had called the MK Stalin government of Tamil Nadu “dishonest” and “uncivilised”, evoking protests from the DMK MPs. (PTI)
