‘Sorry if you were hurt’: Mallikarjun Kharge’s remarks expunged after Parliament showdown

In response, Nadda said the remarks are still condemnable if they were meant for the government.

The showdown, continuing for days over the three-language formula in the new education policy and the delimitation debate, extended further after Kharge continued to lash out at the government alleging the ruling party of hurting the self-respect of people.

Seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Pradhan, Kharge hit out at the NDA government saying, “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.”

How did the chaos unfold?

After Deputy Chairman Harivansh urged Congress leader Digvijay Singh to initiate a discussion on the working of the education ministry, a few DMK MPs – clad in black in a symbolic protest against delimitation and NEP, sought an apology from Pradhan.

Amid the chaos created by Opposition MPs, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge stood up to intervene. While the Chair said Kharge was given an opportunity to speak in the morning, the veteran leader said Dharmendra Pradhan was not in the House at that time. “This is dictatorship,” Kharge hit out at the BJP.

As the Chair insisted that it was Digvijay Singh’s turn to address the House, Kharge said the opposition was prepared to corner the government. Further, Kharge used a term in Hindi, which implied that the Opposition would “hit back” at the government. Kharge’s remark led 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 Kharge is condemnable. Demanding the remark to be expunged, Nadda said, “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,” the Union Minister said.

Kharge apologised soon after.

Monday’s showdown

The face-off in the Parliament on Monday began after DMK MP T Sumathy asked a supplementary question claiming that around Rs 2,000 crore meant for Tamil Nadu had been diverted to other states due to its opposition to the NEP. Following which, Pradhan accused the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu of being “dishonest” and playing “politics” with the future of the state’s students. Pradhan’s remarks were expunged by the Speaker from the records and later DMK MP Kanimozhi said she was “very pained and hurt” by a particular word used by the minister.

The ongoing war of words between the ruling BJP and DMK led to disruptions in the Lok Sabha Monday, with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan forced to withdraw a word from his remarks following protests by Tamil Nadu MPs.

During the face-off in Question Hour, Pradhan accused the DMK government in Tamil Nadu of being “dishonest” and playing “politics” with the future of the state’s students. While criticising the DMK government’s opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP), he also accused it of doing a “U-turn” over PM-SHRI schools, bringing DMK MPs to their feet.

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