Over an allegation of insulting former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh who will be conferred the Bharat Ratna, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar came down heavily on Congress.
The Dhankhar-Kharge war of words
The war of words initiated when Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge questioned the Speaker's decision to let Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary speak in the House.
"There is no debate on honouring leaders with Bharat Ratna. I salute everyone. But if a member wants to raise an issue, you (chairman) ask 'under which rule'. (I want to know) under which rule he (Jayant Chaudhary) has been allowed to speak. Give permission to us also. On one side hand, you talk about rules...You have discretion... that discretion should be used judiciously and not when you want...," Kharge said, leading to a huge uproar in the House.
Retaliating to Kharge's claims, Dhankhar said, "You virtually insulted Chaudhary Charan Singh, you insulted his legacy. You had no time for Bharat Ratna Chaudhary Charan Singh. You are hurting every farmer in the country by creating such an environment inside the House on the issue of Chaudhary Charan Singh. Our heads should bow in shame."
"I will not tolerate insult to Chaudhary Charan Singh. He stands for impeccable public life, unimpeachable integrity, and commitment to farmers...I have seen with my eyes, ruckus, chaos, condemnation, shouting and sloganeering", Dhankhar further added.
What all did Piyush Goyal say?
While speaking during the last session of the ongoing budget session of Parliament, Leader of the House and Union Minister Piyush Goyal today said that the Leader of Opoosition should apologise for their remarks.
Furthermre he added that had the former Prime Minister Chaudhary Singh belonged to the Nehru-Gandhi family, then the previous Congress-led UPA government would have awarded him the Bharat Ratna.
"It is a moment of pride that PM Modi gave respect to Chaudhary Charan Singh by awarding him the Bharat Ratna...Congress should have been celebrating today that their former PM has been awarded by the Modi government. But unfortunately, he didn't have Nehru-Gandhi in his surname. If he belonged to the first family it would have worked."
