New Delhi: Rajya Sabha chairman and vice-president Jagdeep Dhankar expunged remarks made by the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Dhankar then went on to say, “You are saying a particular person is a member of the RSS. Is that in itself a crime? The RSS is an organisation working for the nation. They have a lot of intelligent people.”
He further said, “You are bashing an organisation which is working tirelessly for the nation.”
Kharge’s 90-minute speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address was continuously interrupted by members of the Treasury Benches.
The Congress leader sought to drive home the point that Prime Minister Modi had run a divisive campaign in the run-up to the 2024 general election, and presented data on the number of times Modi had referred to “Muslims” and “Pakistan” in his campaign speeches. Dhankar objected to Kharge’s assertions and asked him to authenticate his statements. When Kharge pointed out that a number of newspapers had reported on Modi’s speeches, Dhankar refused to accept them.
At this point, Kharge’s colleague P. Chidambaram stood up to ask the chairman how an Opposition MP could authenticate what the Prime Minister had said other than by citing news reports.
”This election witnessed that a major issue was protecting the Constitution. The BJP said it will amend the Constitution. But the elections proved issues keep coming and going but the Constitution will thrive, democracy will survive, elections will keep happening and we will also be here,” Kharge said. “The common people supported the Opposition in this fight. They took a major step towards protecting the Constitution,” he added.
