Rajya Sabha din over Kumari Selja claim, Piyush Goyal ‘sorry’

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday witnessed repeated disruptions as BJP and Congress members clashed over former Congress minister Kumari Selja’s remark that she was asked about her caste at a temple in Gujarat. Despite coal and power minister Piyush Goyal expressing regret for his comment on the remarks made by Ms Selja about her entry to a Gujarat temple, Ms Selja refused to accept the minister’s regret and Congress members trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans.

After 2 pm, the Rajya Sabha once again witnessed adjournments as it saw a clash between government and Opposition after the BSP and the Congress opposed the presence of minister of state for external affairs V.K. Singh and demanded his dismissal from the government over his controversial “dog” analogy after killing of two dalit children in Haryana. BSP and Congress members created an uproar and trooped into the well to demand Mr Singh’s exit from the Upper House, which was countered by the Treasury benches. Deputy chairman P.J. Kurien also asserted that the minister has every right to be in the House.

On Thursday morning, Congress members created an uproar soon after the House mourned the death of thousands in the Bhopal gas leakage accident 31 years ago. “Maafi maango, maafi maango (express apology),” they shouted, along with, “Constitution ka apmaan band karo, band karo (stop insulting the Constitution).”

After the House was adjourned twice, parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said that a certain mention by the aggrieved Congress leader about the “Gujarat model” was avoidable and the House should expunge the words. Simultaneously, he said that Mr Goyal will issue an apology to Ms Selja.

Expressing regret, Mr Goyal said, ‘’In view of the Chair’s decision to review the records, I regret my remarks with respect to my colleague Kumari Selja.’’

However, uproar continued with Congress members again storming the well as Selja refused to accept the minister’s regret.

Chairman Hamid Ansari said order should be restored as the minister has expressed regret. An agitated minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi accused the Congress members of not wanting the House to function. ‘’This is not right,’’ he said.

As negotiations were held outside the House to resolve the matter through a series of meetings of leaders of various parties with Dr Ansari and Mr Kurien, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned repeatedly.

Derek O’Brien (TMC) said, “Goyal has withdrawn his statement and expressed regret. Goyal has said something very nice.” At the same time, he said, “This is a prelude to that we were expecting.”

After 2 pm, trouble started once again when V.K. Singh arrived in the House and took his seat. Senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra rose, saying Mr Singh cannot be allowed to sit in the House “even for a minute” and should be “thrown out” as he has “violated” the Constitution.

Mr Naidu, who rushed to the House to defuse the situation, asserted that Mr Singh will not leave the House.

Mr Naidu dismissed the attack on Mr Singh as a “canard” and accused the BSP of doing politics in the name of caste. An unfazed Mr Singh, a former Army Chief who was earlier seated in the back row, moved to second row.

As tempers ran high, the deputy chairman said, “As a minister, he has the right to be here. We cannot ask a minister to go back. We are not here to judge whether someone has violated the Constitution,” he said.

However, the BSP continued its uproar, forcing Mr Kurien to adjourn the House twice. They, however, allowed home minister Rajnath Singh to make a statement on the flood situation in Chennai, before resuming their protest.

“You do not know even this much how to address a human being, how to address a Dalit. He is not entitled to sit in the House. He has no right to sit in the House as he has violated the same Constitution, whose oath he took. He should be thrown out. He has yet not apologised,” Mishra said.

“You have used such a language against Dalit. You have used such a lanugage, compared a human being, a dalit to some animal. And yet you are smiling, you are happy. You should be ashamed,” the BSP leader said and asked Singh to “take pension” and “sit outside”.

Naqvi took objection to this, saying the BSP members are “insulting” an honourable member and it is a “matter of privilege”.

“You have insulted an elected member, who is a minister. Will the House run like this ,” he said citing a point of order quoting Rule 88 and asserting that a minister has the right to attend both Houses.