NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha witnessed disruption and uproar on Wednesday after CPI(M) MP John Brittas alleged that a ruling party MP had called him “lungi-wala” after coming up behind him on Monday, during proceedings that day.
Brittas raised the issue soon after the listed papers were laid on the Table, seeking the Chairman’s attention over the alleged slur. Opposition members protested and urged Chairman Dr C P Radhakrishnan to take cognisance. The Chairman assured them that he would look into the matter, while stressing that decency and decorum must be maintained by every member.
As the din continued, BJP’s Sushmita Dev rose and alleged, along with other women MPs from the Treasury benches, that Brittas had also made a derogatory comment while she was passing by, allegedly calling her a “turncoat”. The counter-allegation further disrupted proceedings, with the House subsequently adjourned during the pre-lunch session without transacting any business.
While Brittas found support among Opposition members, Treasury Bench MPs demanded that Dev be heard before any order was passed. Leader of the House JP Nadda also urged the Chairman to hear both sides, while Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju attempted to calm the protesting members.
The dispute followed a breach of privilege notice Brittas had reportedly moved against Dev a day earlier, alleging that her remark was insulting to his cultural identity.
In protest against the alleged remark by the BJP MP, several MPs from southern India, dressed in traditional attire, including the mundu, staged a protest outside Parliament.
The Chairman urged members from both sides to follow the rules and maintain the decorum of the House, while respecting India’s cultural diversity and identities and refraining from making remarks that could hurt sentiments. Later, the Chairman asked both members to meet him in his chamber.
Later, speaking to this newspaper, Sushmita Dev said that Brittas’s allegation was baseless and made out of frustration after his party lost power.