NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday witnessed an unusual exchange when Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at BJP MP Neeraj Shekhar — the son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar — for interrupting his speech in the Rajya Sabha.
The incident took place in the Upper House during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in which Kharge was criticising the government over the fall of the rupee against the US dollar when Shekhar abruptly interrupted.
“Tera baap ka bhi main aisa sathi tha. Tu kya baat karta hai? Tujhko lekar ghuma. Chup, chup, chup baith (I was your father’s companion. What are you talking about? I took you around. Shut up and sit),” Kharge was heard furiously saying to Shekhar in the House.
Kharge’s remark led to a commotion in the House, prompting Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to intervene and urge both sides to maintain calm.
The Chairman, requesting Kharge to remain composed, remarked, “Chandra Shekhar ji happens to be one of the tallest leaders this country has ever seen. The respect for Chandra Shekhar ji in the country is immeasurable.” He also asked Kharge to withdraw his reference to the former Prime Minister.
Kharge, meanwhile, defended his remark, stating that Chandra Shekhar and he had been arrested together, which was why, out of personal affinity, he asked his son Neeraj Shekhar to sit down. “That’s why I said your father was my companion. And you got up as if...” Kharge remarked, looking at Shekhar.
Kharge told the Chairman that he had never been in the habit of insulting anyone. Shifting the discussion, he went on to accuse the BJP of insulting former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Attacking the BJP, Kharge said, “Someone said he wears a raincoat while bathing, some said he does not talk; some said he cannot run the government. They made such insulting remarks, but he endured them and kept quiet in the country’s interest. He was called Mauni Baba. This habit of insulting people is theirs; we are the ones who tolerate insults.”