Samajwadi Party MP wants Sengol removed from LS, BJP calls it ‘insult to Tamil culture’

A first-time MP and a Dalit leader, Chaudhary wrote a letter addressed to the Speaker/Protem Speaker on June 25, soon after taking oath of membership of the Lok Sabha, questioning the presence of the Sengol (Tamil word for sceptre) next to the Speaker's chair in the House.

Samajwadi Party, Sengol, Sengol removed from LS, R K Chaudhary, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), lok sabha, Indian express news, current affairs

On May 28, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi installed the Sengol in the new Lok Sabha. PTI file

Samajwadi Party MP R K Chaudhary’s demand for removal of the Sengol from the Lok Sabha, calling it a symbol “rajdand/rajtantra (monarchy)”, has become the latest flashpoint between the government and the Opposition. While the Opposition MPs have welcomed Chaudhary’s suggestion to replace the Sengol with a giant replica of the Constitution, the BJP has termed the demand “disgraceful”.

A first-time MP and a Dalit leader, Chaudhary wrote a letter addressed to the Speaker/Protem Speaker on June 25, soon after taking oath of membership of the Lok Sabha, questioning the presence of the Sengol (Tamil word for sceptre) next to the Speaker’s chair in the House.

“I was shocked to see the Sengol on the right side of the Chair of the House. Sir, our Constitution is a sacred document of Indian democracy, while the Sengol is a symbol of rajdand/rajtantra.”

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Chaudhary added that Parliament is a temple of democracy and not a palace of some “raje-rajwade (royal families)”.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Chaudhary said, “The Sengol is a symbol of ‘rajtantra’ whereas there is democracy in India. And the Constitution is the sacred book of democracy. Inside Parliament, there is only democracy. When the country got freedom, Lord Mountbatten (last Viceroy of India) had presented the Sengol and it was crafted on the suggestion of priests. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had got it placed in a museum in Allahabad. That was the right place for the Sengol.”

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Chaudhary said the Sengol should be placed back in the Allahabad museum and should be replaced with a grand replica of the Constitution.

The Sengol was installed in the Lok Sabha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28, 2023 following the inauguration of the new Parliament House.

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Also Read | Significance of the Sengol

The BJP attacked the SP MP over the demand. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said: “It is very unfortunate that Samajwadi Party MP says that Sengol is a symbol of monarchy and hence it should be removed from Parliament… The party which is a symbol of nepotism is again hell-bent on insulting such an integral part of Indian culture, Tamil culture.”

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath slammed Chaudhary’s remark on the Sengol as “disgraceful”.

Lalmani Verma

Lalmani is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, and is based in New Delhi. He covers politics of the Hindi Heartland, tracking BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, RLD and other parties based in UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand. Covered the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024; Assembly polls of 2012, 2017 and 2022 in UP along with government affairs in UP and Uttarakhand. ... Read More

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