Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on 10th February slammed the opposition for interfering with parliamentary proceedings while discussing the Bharat Ratna award for former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. The incident transpired when Chaudhary Charan Singh’s grandson and national chairman of the Rashtriya Lok Dal Party Jayant Choudhary was addressing the upper house.
Attempting to keep the house in order, a visibly agitated Vice-President questioned Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, “Why are you shouting like a commando? Jairam something is seriously wrong with you,” and told the opposition leaders to quiet down and take their seats. He further asked Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to “either control his people or rise and address the house.”
He added, “When Karpoori Thakurji was conferred with the highest civilian order ‘Bharat Ratna’ I looked Ram Nathji in the eyes and indicated that we are lucky that we have his son here (in the Rajya Sabha). Karpoori Thakur doesn’t belong to a family. He belongs to the entire nation. I respect him as much as you do but since you were there, I gave you that opportunity. Similarly, Chaudhary Charan Singh doesn’t belong to one family but since his grandson is in the house, it is a matter of pride for us.”
Mallikarjun Kharge in response stated that they respect all the Bharat Ratna awardees but the chairman uses his authority to ask members of the house to speak according to his desire when he should employ his discretion in a judicial manner.
Jagdeep Dhankhar reacted to the allegations and noted, “I would appeal to you to please observe complete silence because I am deeply pained and hurt by the kind of language that has been used against me by the leader of the opposition. I have yielded to the sentiments in the house, more than a dozen times.” Meanwhile, Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil started to shout when the chairman asserted, “I will not tolerate such insult of a farmer and the farmer class. Have it from me. India is about farmers and villages.”
Jagdeep Dhankhar declared, “Don’t use this language. I will not tolerate insult to Chaudhary Charan Singh. I will not accommodate this. He stands for impeccable public life, unimpeachable integrity and commitment to farmers. You want to create a dispute on his legacy Pramodji (Pramod Tiwari)? This is the kind of environment created in my presence over this issue.” When Congress leader Pramod Tiwari attempted to brush the issue aside by offering his respect to the Bharat Ratna awardees, he underlined, “I don’t want any coverup. I have seen with my eyes, ruckus, chaos, condemnation, shouting and sloganeering.”
“You (opposition) virtually insulted Chaudhary Charan Singh, you insulted his legacy. You had no time for Bharat Ratna Chaudhary Charan Singh. You are hurting every farmer in the country by creating such an environment inside the house on the issue of Chaudhary Charan Singh. Our heads should go in shame. I am myself very disheartened and sad.” the Vice-President commented.
He highlighted, “A farmer has been conferred with an honour and the house has become disorganised. How upset are you.” Furthermore, he warned to “go to the extreme step” if the opposition continued to create a ruckus.” While Congress MP Pramod Tiwari was speaking amidst the uproar, Jagdeep Dhankhar pointed out, “I have heard what Jairam Ramesh said to Jayant at a time like this. He said ‘You are a person who can fish on the cremation ground.’ As a matter of fact, you (Jairam Ramesh) don’t even deserve to be a part of this house due to this misconduct. You have hurt the sentiments of millions of farmers. You have gone to the extreme limit.”
Addressing Mallikarjun Kharge the Vice-President charged, “I belong to the community of farmers but that doesn’t mean I am a weak chairman. I have endured a lot in this house. You use any language you like against me. You don’t read the book and don’t follow precedence. Sometimes you behave as a teacher and treat me like a student.”
Cabinet Minister in the Modi government and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal referred to the statement by Mallikarjun Kharge in which he called the Bharat Ratna awardees “all these people” as “cheap.” He accused Congress of behaving in such an inappropriate manner rather than being glad that PV Narasimha Rao, a Congress prime minister received the Bharat Ratna. He mocked, “If he had been from the first family of Congress or if his surname included Gandhi or Nehru, they would have been pleased. However, the family members were occupied in bestowing themselves with Bharat Ratna.”
“How could the party that even disregarded his corpse comprehend his contribution? His body was not even allowed inside the party office. The president of Congress locked the office and placed the body on the sidewalk. Congress has belittled PV Narasimha Rao, MS Swaminathan and Chaudhary Charan Singh, all recipients of the Bharat Ratna. The leader of the opposition should apologise from the house and the country. They have insulted the entire nation, every farmer, every scientist and all those who work for the country,” he mentioned.
Union Minister Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala also condemned Congress and declared, “Nobody in this nation is born with the ability to silence the of voice farmers. It is not going to happen. Even the praise of a farmer is unlistenable to you. Why do you take such offence at a farmer receiving Bharat Ratna? This is not the way things are done. You (Jagdeep Dhankhar) always advise us to listen to the leader of the opposition but now he is challenging your chairmanship and claiming that you are denying them a chance to speak on such a momentous occasion as this one when the prime minister of India announced Bharat Ratna for a farmer.”
He further continued, “This is the true face and real character of Congress. The fact that the leader they removed from office is receiving Bharat Ratna infuriates them. Congress has been stripped off. They’re not even able to express congratulations, much less show respect. I am ashamed of them.”
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