Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar lashed out at Congress MP P Chidambaram today over his comment that the three new criminal laws were "drafted by part-timers", terming it "inexcusable" and urging him to withdraw his "derogatory, defamatory and insulting" observation.
Mr Dhankhar said he was "shocked beyond words" when in the morning he read Chidambaram's interview to a leading national daily in which he had said that "the new laws were drafted by part-timers".
"Are we part-timers in Parliament? It is an inexcusable insult to the wisdom of Parliament... I do not have words strong enough to condemn such a narrative being set afloat and an MP being labelled as a part-timer.
"I appeal to him (Chidambaram) from this platform, please withdraw this derogatory, defamatory, and highly insulting observation about the Members of Parliament (MPs). I hope he does," the Vice President said addressing the 12th convocation of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in Thiruvananthapuram.
"When informed minds knowingly lead you astray, we need to be on guard," Mr Dhankhar further said.
"This morning, when I read a paper, an informed mind, who had been the Finance Minister of this country, a Parliamentarian for long, and currently a member of the Rajya Sabha, stunned me," the VP said.
He said that he took pride in the fact that the Parliament did "a great thing" by "unshackling us from the colonial legacy" and giving three laws that were of "epochal dimension".
The Veep, also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said that every MP had the opportunity to contribute when the three laws - the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Saksha Adhiniyam - were being debated in the House.
"With a heavy heart, I am sharing with you, that this honourable gentleman, a distinguished member of Parliament who has a great background as finance minister, did not use his lung power. He gave total rest to his vocal chords while debate was going on," he said.
P Chidambaram must hold himself accountable for the "failure of duty on your part, an act of omission/commission, dereliction of duty, which can never be explained", Mr Dhankhar said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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