Cong objects to Dhankhar expunging Kharge’s speech

New Delhi: Raising an objection to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s speech from official records, the Congress on Thursday claimed that Kharge used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

However, Dhankar ruled out a review by saying that he has already taken a call.

At the start of day’s proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, Congress MPs were up on their feet questioning the rationale behind the expunging of remarks made on Wednesday, when similar ones were made by former prime ministers Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh in the House and which continue to be part of the proceedings.

Kharge said that things said in the House as per rules and procedures during the discussion on the motion thanking the President for her address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the start of the Budget session cannot be expunged.

“I neither used any unparliamentary word or language nor made any allegation on anyone,” he said, adding, “Yet you pick out some words... I won’t say you misinterpreted them but if you had any doubt you could have sought clarification in a different fashion. Kharge said that these were the same words that were used in the House on previous occasions as well. “Vajpayee had used the same expression for (ex-Prime Minister) PV Narasimha Rao. It is still part of the record, you can see that,” he said, adding that when party leaders, including chief whip Jairam Ramesh, try to raise a point, they are cut short. “You say this is not right... you sit down... you should read. He (Ramesh) has been educated from Harvard University and knows Hindi, Kannada, English, which other language should he know. And knows parliamentary language and yet you keep interrupting him. This is not right,” he said. Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said that the opposition parties gave notices seeking discussion on the issue but the chairman rejected them saying MPs would be free to speak on the subject during the debate on a motion thanking the President for her address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.

The Leader of the Opposition expressed his views during the debate on the motion on Wednesday but “you have expunged it,” he said. “Which part of LoP’s speech was unparliamentary,” he asked.