In what could escalate the row over BJP leader Anurag Thakur's caste remark against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the main Opposition has submitted a privilege complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for praising Mr Thakur for his speech. Jalandhar MP and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has submitted a complaint to the Lok Sabha secretary general.
Mr Channi has said in his letter that "certain objectionable remarks" made by Mr Thakur were expunged from the proceedings of the House. "It is, however, shocking to note that these expunged pertions had been tweeted by the Prime Minister on X along with whole speech video. In addition to this other objectionable expunged words in the speech had also been tweeted as laid down in Practice and Procedure of Parliament by Kaul & Shakdher," he has said.
Mr Channi told NDTV that expunged remarks cannot be publicly repeated. "But the Prime Minister publicised them by tweeting," he said. On the BJP's contention that the remarks had not been expunged when the Prime Minister tweeted, he said, "They were expunged in the House right away."
Amid the row over the five-time MP's remark, the Prime Minister shared a video of Mr Thakur's speech on X and said it is a "must hear". "This speech by my young and energetic colleague, Shri @ianuragthakur is a must hear. A perfect mix of facts and humour, exposing the dirty politics of the INDI Alliance," he said.
This speech by my young and energetic colleague, Shri @ianuragthakur is a must hear. A perfect mix of facts and humour, exposing the dirty politics of the INDI Alliance. https://t.co/4utsqNeJqp
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 30, 2024
The Congress responded sharply, saying that the Prime Minister had encouraged a "serious breach of parliamentary privilege" by sharing the speech, which it described as a "highly abusive and unconstitutional tirade".
Mr Thakur's remarks against Mr Gandhi drew a sharp response from the Opposition benches yesterday. Senior Congress MP Jagdambika Pal, who was in the Chair, had assured the remarks would be expunged. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that while expunged comments are edited out of videos uploaded online, Sansad TV has uploaded the unedited speech in this case. "This is a new and shameful low in the annals of India's parliamentary history. It reflects the BJP-RSS and Mr. Modi's deep-rooted casteism," he alleged.
A five-time MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, Anurag Thakur was speaking during the debate on Budget 2024 when he launched a personal attack on Mr Gandhi, drawing a sharp response from Opposition benches. The Leader of the Opposition interjected to say he should be given an opportunity to respond because Mr Thakur had insulted him."You can insult me as much as you want, do it every day. But don't forget that we (the opposition) will get the Bill (on Caste Census) passed here (in Parliament)," Mr Gandhi said.