Sonia cracks whip, Brar loses party post

Brar has already sent his explanation to party chief Sonia Gandhi yesterday asking to be ‘‘excused’’ for the lapse and has sought time from her to plead his case. He said what he did was in national interest. ‘‘I did whatever I did in the interest of the country. And that in no way shows disrespect to my leader, Sonia Gandhi,’’ Brar said.

‘‘I have only done some good to the party, which was unable to raise any issue with the Minister due to the boycott,’’ he said. ‘‘There is tremendous pressure on me from widows and families of those who lost their lives in crashes. Everyday they come to my house seeking assistance. I brought up this matter to help them,’’ Brar said.

He is also surprised by the party reaction. ‘‘The calling attention motion on the IAF crashes was discussed for two days. When my name was called by the Speaker yesterday, then someone told me reluctantly that I should leave the House.’’

MP Laxman Singh, brother of MP Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, has also been served a show-cause notice.

Announcing the decision to remove Brar from the post of party whip, chief spokesperson Jaipal Reddy said: ‘‘The party has taken a negative view and the two MPs have been issued a show-cause notice. Brar knew our decision not to engage the Defence Minister on the floor of the House. Therefore, a negative view was taken.’’

‘‘We have no difficulty controlling our MPs, but the MPs who cannot restrain themselves will face difficulty,’’ Reddy said.

This is the second time, the Congress is in an embarrassing situation. A few months ago, Veer Sarvarkar’s portrait was approved by a Parliamentary Committee, on which senior leaders Shivraj Patil and Pranab Mukherjee were members.