Congress MPs protest against union minister Harsimrat Kaur's reply to Rahul Gandhi's query
It is usually the lack of a response that provokes the opposition in Parliament. But Congress MPs complained today that to one query by their leader Rahul Gandhi, the government had responded not once, not twice, but five times.
Protests erupted in the Lok Sabha as soon as Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur started reading out her detailed rebuttal to Rahul Gandhi's statement last Thursday voicing concerns over the scrapping of a food park in his constituency Amethi. She said that the project had failed to secure clearances and had been extended despite that.
"Why are there five interventions on one statement?" Deepender Hooda questioned, citing rules against such repetitions. He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Harsimrat Kaur and BJP lawmaker Kirit Somaiya had all reacted to Mr Gandhi's statement in the house.
Harsimrat Kaur, who is the Food Processing Minister, had spoken thrice on the subject, Mr Hooda said. "The Chair has not been fair in allowing her to make a point five times," said the Congress MP, adding that it was "not a personal attack" on Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
The Speaker rejected the MP's argument and asserted that the minister spoke only because she could never finish her statement earlier. "The minister came to me and said she had not been able to complete her statement, so I allowed her to speak," Ms Mahajan told Congress members.
When Congress MPs insisted that the minister had spoken more than twice, the Speaker said angrily: "Are you challenging me? Go through the records and then come to me."
Rajnath Singh, who was among the leaders who responded to Rahul Gandhi's statement, wondered why the Congress was upset. "I don't understand. If a member raises a question and the minister is giving the information twice, then what is the objection?" he commented.
Persisting protests forced the Speaker to adjourn the house. Mr Hooda later apologized for questioning the Speaker. "I never wanted to lower the dignity of the Chair," he said.
Harsimrat Kaur's return fire on Amethi coincided with another minister, Smriti Irani's visit to the constituency today.