‘Her English will be good but deeds are not’: Kharge vs Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha | Watch
Sitharaman attacked the Congress and said the party brought Constitutional amendments to protect its leaders and not for strengthening the democracy.
A war of words was witnessed in the Rajya Sabha on Monday as the House took up the debate on the Constitution of India, with union minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge locking horns in the Parliament.
Sitharaman attacked the grand old party and its leaders, including former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and said the Constitutional amendments that they brought were not about strengthening the democracy but about protecting those in power.
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The finance minister added that India, a nation which prides itself on freedom of expression even today, saw the first interim government come up with a constitutional amendment meant to curb the freedom speech of Indians and that was within one year of adoption of the Constitution.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge hit back at Sitharaman's remarks on Constitution, saying that while she might have a good language, she does not have good deeds.
Taking part in the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said, "I have to tell them that I also know how to read. I have studied in municipality school, she (Nirmala Sitharaman) has studied in Jawaharlal Nehru University, it is certain that her English will be good, her Hindi will be good, but the deeds are not good."
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Further, he wondered that those who "hate" the Constitution, the national flag and 'Ashok Chakra' are "trying to teach" the grand old party.
"What is this? When this Constitution was made...these people burn the Constitution. They torched effigies of Babasaheb Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi at Ramleela Maidan (in Delhi) the day the Constitution was adopted," Kharge added.
He defended Congress and said that while several powerful countries did not have the universal adult franchise, women didn't have the right to vote, at that time, the grand old party and the Constitution gave these rights to the nation, adding that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Jansangh (now BJP) opposed it.
Kharge stated in the Rajya Sabha that from the debates of Constituent Assembly, it is clear that "erstwhile leaders of RSS were against Constitution".
(with inputs from agencies)