Mallikarjun Kharge invokes Atal Bihari Vajpayee's words against PV Narasimha Rao over expunged remarks
1 min read . Updated: 09 Feb 2023, 03:33 PM IST
PremiumRajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar expunged statements by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge in Rajya Sabha
After Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar scrubbed off the statement made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge against Primne Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday Kharge retaliated by sating that there are words by former Prime Minister on record he said against former Prime Minister P V Narsimha Rao.
Kharge said, "[Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari] Vajpayee sahab had used a word against [Former Prime Minister PV] Narasimha Rao ji and that word is still in the books,"
Defending his statement in the Parliament, the Congress chief said, "I don't think there was anything unparliamentary or accusatory against anyone in my speech... But a few words were misconstrued... If you had any doubt, you could have asked in a different way, but you have asked for my words in six places to be expunged,"
Kharge went on to say, invoking Vice President Dhankhar's parliamentary morality, "Chairman is the ultimate defender of the Leader of the Opposition."
When Kharge said whoever comes to his defence is interrupted by the chair, Dhankar said the ultimate defender of the LoP is the chair.
The opposition has accused the government of censoring its speech in parliament after Rahul Gandhi's remarks were deleted, making it impossible for the media to reproduce them in any way.
"Why were my words expunged?" The Congress leader remarked while speaking to reporters outside the House.
"I asked him simple questions (about his relationship with billionaire Gautam Adani). He did not answer them... it reveals the truth. If they were not friends, he would have agreed to an inquiry. He said nothing about allegations of shell companies in the defence sector," he added.
Opposition leaders have been raising questions against the government over the Hindenburg Research Report accusing Adani group of unethical market practices.
