Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that the opposition INDIA bloc parties walked out of the Rajya Sabha during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech as he was “lying” and further added that it is his “habit” to “lie and mislead people”.
His remarks came soon after the Opposition walked out of the upper House of the Parliament while Modi was speaking about the Constitution during his reply to Motion of Thanks to President’s address.
“It’s his habit to lie, mislead people, and say things beyond truth. They (BJP) say that we (Congress) are against the Constitution, but the truth is that BJP-RSS, Jan Sangh and their political forefathers had strongly opposed the Constitution of India. They had burnt the effigies of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru at that time. This was a shameful thing,” Kharge told the media.
He also pointed out that Ambedkar had given the credit for drafting the Constitution to Congress.
Kharge also said that “I just wanted to clarify who was for the Constitution and who was against it”.
“RSS wrote in their editorial in 1950 that the bad thing about the Constitution is that there is nothing about India’s history. They opposed the Constitution. They are against it since the beginning and they say that they are for it,” Kharge, who is Leader of Opposotion in Rajya Sabha said.
The opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc staged a walkout as Prime Minister was replying to the debate on the ‘Motion of Thanks’ on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha today.
The opposition MPs claimed that Kharge was not given an opportunity to speak. In protest, they engaged in sloganeering against the Prime Minister and left the House.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar strongly criticized the actions of the INDIA bloc MPs, accusing them of challenging and outraging the spirit of the Constitution, as well as disregarding their oath of office.
Dhankhar said, “The opposition members have challenged the Constitution, outraged the spirit of the Constitution, and disregarded the oath they took”.
Dhankhar also claimed that Kharge had insulted his oath of office by participating in the walkout, saying, “Khargeji insulted oath of the office through the walkout. They (opposition MPs) have made a mockery of the Constitution. I hope they introspect”.
He also added that Kharge was allotted sufficient time in the House to speak.