Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan set off a political firestorm in Parliament on Friday when he stood up to reply to a question asked by Rahul Gandhi on the ministry during Question Hour but insisted on condemning Gandhi first over his recent attack on PM Modi.
It took a few moments for a stunned Congress to figure out what Harsh Vardhan was going to say. The minister’s statement - he was reading out of a piece of paper - was unusual. Ministers are required to stick to responding to the question asked by a member of parliament.
As Gandhi mentioned his question number – Question number 89 on Establishment of Medical Colleges - during Question Hour, the minister said: “Sir, please excuse me. Before I begin answering this question of Dear Rahul Gandhiji, I want to condemn in no uncertain words the outlandish language that he has used against the Prime Minister of the country.”
Watch l Harsh Vardhan condemns Rahul’s ‘danda’ jibe; Congress MPs charge at minister
Speaker Om Birla did ask the minister to give his reply but the minister had continued with his statement.
{{/usCountry}}Speaker Om Birla did ask the minister to give his reply but the minister had continued with his statement.
{{/usCountry}}As the opposition members trooped into the well, the Speaker adjourned the House till 1 pm.
Gandhi, who represents Kerala’s Wayanad in the Lok Sabha, had asked Harsh Vardhan to list the details of the proposals received from the States/UTs under Phase-III of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the ‘Establishment of New Medical Colleges, details of medical colleges established under the first two phases and whether a new government medical college was proposed in his constituency.