Mallikarjun Kharge’s remark triggers uproar in Rajya Sabha; he expresses regret

New Delhi: A heated argument broke out in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday over a remark by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who later regretted it and underscored that his target was the central government and not the presiding officer.

The controversy arose when the Upper House was being presided by deputy chairman Harivansh, who gave the floor to Digvijaya Singh, who was scheduled to initiate a debate on education. Singh refused to speak, insisting that Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge should be allowed to speak first. The Chair reminded Kharge that he had already spoken in the morning, but Kharge objected, stating that his remarks were incomplete as the education minister was not present at that time.

“What is this dictatorship!” Kharge said as the Chair seemed hesitant on his request to speak again. “We have to speak. We are ready to speak, and whatever we need to hit, we will”. These remarks from the LoP triggered a chaos in the House.

Union minister and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, JP Nadda said, “It is very unfortunate that the current Leader of Opposition, who has had a long and experienced tenure in both the state and Parliament, having led in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, has used such language. This is highly condemnable.”

“This is to be condemned by one and all, including the LoP. He should condemn and he should apologise,” Nadda said.

“The word and the language used against the Chair is unparliamentary, unacceptable and unpardonable,” he said, demanding that Kharge retracts his remarks.

Kharge issued an apology following Nadda’s statement. “I would like to apologise, sir,” he said adding that his remarks were meant for the Centre’s policy and not the Chair.

“If you speak of hurting the self-respect of a part of the country and say that this is uncultured, uncivilised, then you must resign from ministership,” the Congress leader added.

Replying to him, Nadda said, “It is good that the Honorable Leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, has apologised for his statement. As a Member of Parliament and a senior leader, this gesture is commendable. However, the language he used against the government is also condemnable.”