Did PM a favour, says RJD MP who got Narendra Modi remark on Congress' BK Hariprasad expunged
NEW DELHI: RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha asserts he did “good” to the Prime Minister by getting his remarks about Congress leader BK Hariprasad expunged since “derogatory” statements should not be a part of Parliamentary history.
It was a rare instance in Parliament on Friday when Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu expunged remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after Jha flagged the matter promptly in the House.
While congratulating Harivansh Narayan Singh, the NDA candidate who won the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson election, Modi had made the remark that involved a wordplay on BK Hariprasad’s name.
“I am a new member of the Rajya Sabha, but I have followed Parliament for long. I know that Parliamentary interventions are permanent. I did a good to the PM as his remarks should not become permanent. Our future generations should not think that such derogatory remarks were made by our PM and that people (MPs) were silent,” the RJP MP says.
Although other MPs did not raise the matter, Jha says, many of his colleagues felt the episode involving Modi has further lowered the bar of the House.
“MPs cutting across party lines came and complimented me for taking it up with the Chair. I would have done so had it been against any member of the House irrespective of political affiliation. I raised the matter, and I am thankful to Chair for accepting it,” he says.
The senior RJD leader feels that his move has “set a bar for anybody to follow” and cites the example of Hiren Mukherjee, who is considered as one of the finest Parliamentarians.
“The CPI MP was a big critic of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and he wrote a book about him. The PM’s remarks troubled me, and the connotation was incriminatory for the House. I was sure that I must raise it. "
"What disturbs me that since they (BJP leaders) have come to power and even in the run-up to the 2014 elections, the use of language has gone down,” he asserts.
Congress MP Hariprasad, who was the target of the PM’s remarks, is critical of him.
“PM refers to the Prime Minister of this great nation. PM also refers to a panchayat member, from where political activists begin their career. Even a panchayat member would be ashamed of the language which PM Modi used against me!” the Opposition leader asserts.