BJP corners DMK in Lok Sabha for ‘insulting Dalits’ as TR Baalu says MoS Murugan ‘unfit to be minister’

While Baalu was speaking, L Murugan, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and I&B, intervened to say that the question was irrelevant.

An agitated Baalu asked Murugan to sit and not interfere unnecessarily. When Murugan continued to speak, Baalu said, “You are unfit to be a Member of Parliament. You are unfit to be responding as a minister also.”

At this, the Treasury benches got riled. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi rose and said, “How can he call a minister unfit? That too you are calling a Dalit minister unfit. The DMK government is unfit.”

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal joined in and said, “You take your words back. It must be removed from the record. You should tender an apology. You are a senior member of the DMK and we respect you. It does not mean you will call a Dalit minister unfit. We will not tolerate this disrespect to the Dalit community.”

The Treasury benches then began shouting slogans: “TR Baalu maafi mango (TR Baalu apologise).” DMK MPs too stood up and shouted slogans saying that voices from Tamil Nadu were being muzzled. For the next five minutes there was a heated verbal duel between the Treasury and Opposition benches.

Speaker Om Birla said the comments would be expunged from the records.

Baalu was eventually allowed to ask his question, but he repeated that the BJP MP was not only unfit to be a minister but also a politician. “He is insulting the entire SC community. How can you do it? Check what is the fate of INDIA alliance. It is finished and you are still talking like this,” Joshi said.

Following this, Birla called out another member’s name to ask questions even as the DMK kept protesting. The DMK then walked out of the House.

Earlier, the Question Hour began with DMK MP A Raja asking questions on the Chennai floods and accusing the Centre of being biased against Tamil Nadu.

“Last December, Chennai and Kanchiipuram district were heavily impacted by cyclone. Later seven districts were hit by another cyclone. Delegation from the state has met the PM and the home minister and demanded Rs 37,000 crore. An inter-ministerial committee which visited the state and the state government gave their reports to the ministry. But no assurance has been given by the government as to when and how much money would be released. Is the amount going to match that released to (then) BJP-ruled states such as Gujarat and Karnataka,” he asked.

Manickam Tagore of the Congress also made similar allegations. “The problem with the minister is he is not ready to see Tamil Nadu with compassion. If this discrimination with Tamil Nadu continues, the BJP will get the same number of seats in the state that it got last time,” he said.

Minister of State (Home) Nityanand Rai said the Centre was not discriminating against any state. “Between 2010 and 2015 there was provision for only Rs 33,581 crore for disaster relief. This has increased to Rs 61,120 crore for 2015-2020. For 2020-25, it has increased to over Rs 1.38 lakh crore. The SDRF funds have increased by 282 per cent. This shows that the Modi government is sensitive to the needs of the states in disaster relief,” he said.

“SDRF funds were earlier released later. Now they are released in advance. States have to spend those funds. Even now the Tamil Nadu government has over Rs 2,000 crore available in SDRF funds,” Rai added.

A Raja, however, accused the government of a “stepmotherly attitude towards states not run by the BJP”. He said the amount being asked by the Tamil Nadu government is under the National Disaster Response Fund and not the State Disaster Response Fund.

At this, Rai further said, “During Cyclone Biparjoy, Gujarat was not given even a rupee under the SDRF. Chennai has been given Rs 500 crore to manage floods. IMCT (Inter-Ministerial Central Team) report has been received and it is being studied. There is no discrimination against Tamil Nadu. Today, provision has been made to appear in competitive exams in vernacular languages.”