The Rajya Sabha witnessed an uproar on Tuesday over an unparliamentary remark by the Leader of Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, who apologised to the Chair while clarifying that his remark was directed at the government, which he accused of "trying to create a regional divide" in the country.
As the Upper House took up a discussion on the working of the Education Ministry soon after Question Hour, several opposition members stood up, demanding an apology from Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for his remarks against the Tamil Nadu government.
On Monday, Pradhan had slammed the Tamil Nadu government for its stance on the three-language policy under the National Education Policy (NEP), accusing it of "ruining the future of students" in the state for political reasons.
On Tuesday, as Deputy Chairman Harivansh called Congress leader Digvijay Singh to initiate a discussion on the working of the Education Ministry, DMK MPs—who had come dressed in black to oppose delimitation and the NEP stood up, demanding an apology from Pradhan.
Amid the uproar, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge stood up to intervene.
Although the Chair pointed out that the Congress president had already been given an opportunity to speak in the morning, Kharge argued that the Education Minister was not present in the House at that time. "This is a dictatorship," he said.
When the Chair insisted that it was Singh’s turn to speak, Kharge asserted that the opposition was prepared to corner the government.
Kharge then used a Hindi expression implying that the opposition would "hit back" at the government, triggering an uproar from the treasury benches, which claimed the expression was "unparliamentary".
Leader of the House JP Nadda intervened, condemning Kharge’s remarks. "The language used by the Leader of Opposition, along with the aspersions cast on the Chair, is condemnable. This must be denounced by all. The words and language used for the Chair are unpardonable. He should apologise, and the words should be expunged," Nadda said.
Kharge immediately apologised for using the expression and clarified that his remarks were not directed at the Chair but at government policies.
"I am sorry. I was not speaking about you; I was referring to government policies. If my remarks hurt you, I apologise," he said.
"You are hurting the self-respect of a section of this country and its people by calling them uncultured and uncivilised. The minister should be asked to resign. They are talking about dividing and breaking the country," Kharge added.
Nadda acknowledged Kharge’s apology to the Chair but maintained that the remarks remained condemnable if they were aimed at the government.
The Chair then called on Digvijay Singh to speak, who proceeded to initiate the debate on the working of the Education Ministry.
During his reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday regarding central funds for the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme, Pradhan had referred to the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government as "dishonest" and "uncivilised", prompting protests from DMK MPs.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by Jagran English and has been published through syndicated feed by PTI.)