PTI
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 2
Union Minister V K Singh was at the centre of attack, with Congress creating a ruckus in the Lok Sabha seeking action against him for his dog analogy and staged a walkout.
The Trinamool Congress and the Left too staged a walkout on the issue with the Left seeking action against the Minister, who was present in the House, and the TMC demanding a regret from him.
As soon as the House met for the day, Congress sought to raise the issue but Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she has disallowed all notices for suspension of Question Hour.
Following this, Congress members trooped into the Well shouting slogans against the government.
Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the government during the debate on intolerance did not touch upon the remarks made by Singh about Dalits.
He also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi what action he plans to take against Singh.
Later, the Congress again raised the issue after the Question Hour was over with Kharge saying, “We protest against the attitude of the government... They (the government) should listen.”
As the Speaker denied permission to raise the issue, Kharge along with other Congress members staged a walkout.
Mahajan told Kharge that Home Minister Rajnath Singh had given a detailed reply yesterday, adding that Congress members were not in the House during the speech, apparently referring to their walkout yesterday.
“Please have some tolerance for the mandate of the people,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said referring to the Opposition continuing to criticise the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As the Congress members walked out, Naidu urged the Speaker to ensure that comments against a particular community should not go on the record.
V K Singh did not make such comments about Dalits and there is no reason for the Opposition to raise the issue again and again, Naidu said.
Visibly upset Modi leaves LS amid uproar over VK Singh’s dog remark
A visibly upset Prime Minister Narendra Modi left the Lok Sabha on Wednesday as opposition members created a din demanding the sacking of minister V.K. Singh.
After some 40 minutes of uproar, during which Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s repeated requests to the protesting MPs to calm down fell on deaf ears, Modi left the house.
The opposition MPs said they wanted Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh out of the government for making “derogatory comments” against Dalits.
The trouble began soon after the house met for question hour as opposition members assembled near the speaker’s chair shouting slogans against the minister.
“V.K. Singh should resign!” they shouted. Mahajan tried to pacify them on one hand and asked the rest of the house to continue with parliamentary business.
Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah looked on from the front rows of the treasury benches.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also tried to pacify the agitated members, saying the minister had already clarified the issue and there was no point stretching it further.
As the question hour got over amid the din, the speaker again requested the opposition to let the house function but the protesting MPs instead walked out.
