A video of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge went viral earlier this week, in which he lashed out at an MP in the Rajya Sabha and told him to sit quietly, saying, “chup baith.” Kharge lost his cool after Bharatiya Janata Party MP Neeraj Shekhar interrupted him during his speech in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The incident occurred while Kharge was criticising several central government policies, including the rate of inflation. According to reports, Neeraj Shekhar, son of former Prime Minister and ex-Congress leader Chandra Shekhar, interrupted him.
During a discussion in Rajya Sabha on Monday, as Kharge was speaking, BJP MP Neeraj Shekhar intervened and made some remarks, to which the Leader of Opposition shot back, saying he was a “friend of his father”, former prime minister Chandra Shekhar.
He told Neeraj Shekhar to sit down, which led to an uproar from the treasury benches.
“Tera baap bhi idhar mere sath tha. Tu kya baat karta hai. Chup baith (your father also was with me here. What are you talking about? Sit down!. ),” he said. A video of the incident went viral on Monday.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called Chandra Shekhar one of the tallest leaders of the country, and urged all sides to calm down, as he urged Kharge to withdraw his remarks.
Kharge responded by saying he had worked with Chandra Shekhar and had called him a comrade. “I don’t insult anyone; I have worked with Chandra Shekhar ji…” Kharge said.
Kharge’s effigy burnt
Supporters of Chandra Shekhar in Ballia burned an effigy of Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday over his remarks on the late prime minister.
Kharge’s remarks reverberated on a wrong note in his home district, where Chandra Shekhar’s sympathisers accused Kharge of committing “an unpardonable crime” by using “indecent and unruly words about such a great personality”.
The speakers at the protest witnessed the presence of several BJP office bearers and former president of TD College students’ union Arun Singh and Raghav Singh, and district panchayat members Manvendra Vikram Singh and Santosh Pandey.
An effigy of Kharge was burned in Raniganj town too.
Ballia Superintendent of Police Omvir Singh told PTI that no FIR had been registered in the matter.
Chandra Shekhar’s grandson and BJP MLC Ravi Shankar Singh Pappu in a post on social media denounced Kharge over his statement.
“The way Shri Kharge ji misbehaved with MP Shri Neeraj Shekhar ji (Chandrashekhar’s son) in the House shows his feudal mentality. The downfall of Congress has happened only because of his thinking and arrogant ideology,” Pappu said.
“Congress party’s yuvraj Shri Rahul Gandhi should answer why his party’s president behaved in this reprehensible way in reference to Late Chandrashekhar ji,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
