A united Opposition, led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, forced BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj on Friday to express regret for describing Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a 'patriot', while compelling the NDA government too to disassociate itself from the episode.
As the Opposition’s slogans against the BJP MP and the government — “ Hey Ram, hey Ram; Gandhi ke hatyare ko diya samman [Oh God, Gandhi’s killer is being honoured]” and “ Doshi sarkar hai hai [down with the guilty government]” — rang through the House, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked Sakshi Maharaj to apologise.
Apologies galore
Given the spate of expressions of regret made in Parliament this week, she added sarcastically that perhaps she needed henceforth to set aside the first five minutes every day for apologies. Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge warned the government that the Opposition would not allow the government to have its way just because it had a majority.
Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge warned the government on Friday that the Opposition would not allow the government to have its way just because it had a majority.
He was speaking on the demand of a united Opposition that BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj express regret for describing Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a “patriot.”
During the din, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, stressing that the MP had already withdrawn his remarks, said the government and the BJP condemned and disassociated themselves from such comments.
He criticised the Congress, saying that Gandhiji would never have approved of such conduct. The Speaker then again prodded Sakshi Maharaj, who said, “I express regret before the House and the country.”
Trouble began in the morning when the Speaker, after making a reference to the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack on the eve of its anniversary on Saturday, said she had rejected notices for an adjournment motion and suspension of Question Hour to take up the issue. The Congress, RJD, Trinamool and Left MPs trooped into the Well raising slogans.
Earlier, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with a dozen party MPs, held a protest near the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex against the remarks of Mr. Maharaj. “Unless he [Maharaj] apologises in the House, we will not allow the House to function,” Mr. Scindia said.
