Govt, Oppn in ugly sparring match

Salim made these comment while initiating the debate on matter. Bedlam ruled the House as members from both sides entered into verbal clashes leading to repeated adjournments.

Mohammed Salim while quoting a news report attributed to Rajnath Singh making certain comments, which led to a logjam with the government demanding that Salim either withdraw the comment or apologise for them. The deadlock, which led to the House being adjourned four times, was resolved in the evening after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan expunged the remarks related to the allegations. This paved the way for resumption of the debate during which opposition parties like CPI(M) and Congress attacked the government, alleging that intolerance had increased since the NDA government came.

The BJP hit back by saying that incidents, which were being projected by the Opposition as examples of ‘intolerance’, had been taking place in the country for decades. Speaking for treasury benches Meenakshi Lekhi also cited Home Ministry figures to insist that incidents of communal violence had actually come down since NDA came to power.

Earlier, the ruling and the Opposition sides locked horns after Salim alleged that Singh was quoted by the magazine as having made the ‘Hindu leader’ remark after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister last year. Citing the magazine, Salim said Singh had made the remark at an internal meeting of RSS. Singh vehemently denied it and said he was never hurt so much in his Parliamentary career as he was on Monday.

“Mohd Salim leveled a serious allegation against me. He should say when and where I made such a statement or apologise. A Home Minister who makes such a statement has no moral right to be the Home Minister. I speak after weighing every word. People know Rajnath Singh can never make such a statement,” Singh said.

When some BJP members questioned whether he was present when such a reported comment was made, the CPI(M) member said, “I don’t have such misfortune to attend a RSS meeting.” Members in the treasury benches, including Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy, demanded that Salim withdraw his remark till the Speaker took a view on the matter after consulting all sides and also the authenticity of the report. At this point, Rudy said it would be difficult to run the House till Salim withdrew his comments. The Speaker asked Salim to agree to this but he declined. He, however, told the Speaker that the remarks may not be made part of the record till she verifies it.