Don’t let your party to be held hostage by a ‘naive child’, Nadda tells Kharge amid Opposition uproar

Nadda then went on to advise Kharge that he should not allow his party to be held hostage by a “naive child”. “You are very senior to me. Apni party ko abodh balak ka bandhak mat banaiye (Don’t let your party be held hostage by a naive child),” he said, adding that Kharge should impress upon his party leaders to work within democratic principles.

“Yahan par abhiman, ahankar aur abodh ho kar ke… Abodh aur ahankar, ye dono bada deadly mixture hota hai, isse bach kar ke rahen. Aap party ko swacchand roop se chalaiye (You shouldn’t let pride, arrogance and ignorance dictate… Arrogance and ignorance are a deadly combination and you should stay away from it. You should run the party freely),” he told Kharge.

Reacting to the use of the term “abodh balak”, Kharge said: “Such words are condemnable… In a Parliamentary democracy if the Opposition leader is not allowed to speak for days… Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha function together. You can’t criticise…what happens in our party.”

“You have given me the opportunity to speak about the democratic principles of this country. Parliament means Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, as per our constitution. We have got two chambers. But the Lok Sabha LoP is not allowed to speak…about the country’s interests,” the Congress president said.

Amid sloganeering from Opposition members, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju said: “For three days, with the discussion on the President’s address, Rajya Sabha proceedings have been going on smoothly. Suddenly, in the name of democratic principles, Kharge ji has raised a matter. I am surprised about what has caused this… All the members are waiting to listen to the speech of the Prime Minister.”

“Your Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha (Rahul Gandhi) does not follow rules… does not follow the ruling of the Speaker,” he said, asking Kharge why he is not stopping Gandhi.

Nadda said: “Through Kharge ji, I would like to give a clear message to the Congress party and the country that the government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi is ready for a discussion at all times and in every way. PM Modi was ready to respond in the Lok Sabha. You did not let the Lok Sabha function… When we are willing to discuss in the (upper) House and are ready to go into minute details, let the discussion take place.”

Kharge sought to raise the matter of former Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir. When he started to read excerpts from the book, House Chairman C P Radhakrishnan stopped him from doing so, leading to a walkout by Opposition benches.

Hitting out at the Congress, Nadda said: “Their agenda is something else. Their agenda is to obstruct the progress that the country is making under PM Modi… This has become the Congress party’s agenda. They have become desperate, and they have got nothing to do with the development of the country. They are self-seekers. They are only concerned with the interests of their own party, and a family within the party, and that is what they are working for.”