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In letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman, Kharge seeks Union ministers' apology
Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the Chairman of the House, requesting him to expunge the remarks made by Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal against Sonia Gandhi in the Upper House on Thursday.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday wrote to the Chairman of the House, requesting him to expunge the remarks made by Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Upper House over Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's "rashtrapatni" remark on Thursday.
"I also request that they tender their apology for their violation of sacrosanct conventions of the House," Kharge wrote.
The Congress took strong objection to the manner in which Sitharaman and Goyal made references to Sonia Gandhi in the Rajya Sabha.
Kharge had earlier sought to raise the issue in the House, but was not allowed to speak during the ‘zero hour’ under Rule 258.
Earlier in the day, the Congress also stepped up its attack against Union minister Smriti Irani for having a face-off with Sonia Gandhi earlier in the Lower House over Chowdhury's "rashtrapatni" remark and demanded action against her.
Congress MPs staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex demanding an apology from the government for Irani’s confrontation with Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.
The Congress MPs met in the Parliament and decided on their strategy at a meeting of Congress Parliamentary Party chaired by Sonia Gandhi, after which they caused disruption in both Houses of Parliament with slogans against Irani and demanding her sacking as a minister.
The Congress has accused Irani of “heckling” Sonia Gandhi inside the Lower House.
The party has already complained against Irani to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a demand that the matter be referred to the privileges committee for action against her.
Referring to Sitharaman and Goyal's remarks in Rajya Sabha, Kharge said that it is a time-honoured convention that reflections or critical remarks should not be made on the other House or members of the other House.
He also said that no person who is not a member of the House can be referred to in a derogatory manner or in any other way afflicting his or her reputation.
On Thursday, the row that began with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury calling President Droupadi Murmu "rashtrapatni", went notches up when the party accused BJP MPs of subjecting its president to "brutal heckling, verbal assault and physical intimidation" in the Lok Sabha.
Congress MPs, protesting against the alleged misbehaviour with Gandhi, were joined by their colleagues from the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
(With inputs from agencies)
