Kharge's 'dog' jibe triggers uproar in Parliament, BJP demands apology

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's dog jibe led to heated exchanges on Tuesday in both Houses with BJP seeking an apology from the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and dubbing him as a "rubber stamp" chief.
Kharge's remark at a rally in Rajasthan where he said that while his party helped the country get Independence, BJP did not lose even a "dog" for the nation, prompted members of the saffron party to target Congress and him as soon the proceedings started in both Houses.
Lok Sabha was adjourned for some time in the morning over the issue while unruly scenes were seen in Rajya Sabha. The face-off continued longer in the upper House despite chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar instructing Union minister Piyush Goyal to "control" his party members.
Not schoolkids, says Dhankhar, MPs carry on with business as usual
Unhappy with the unruly behaviour of MPs from both treasury and opposition benches on Tuesday, vice president and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the entire country is "laughing at us" as he urged members not to create chaos in the Upper House. He also said that members are not like "school children" who resort to "tit for tat".
Dhankhar made these remarks in response to a verbal face off between Congress and BJP MPs in the Rajya Sabha over objectionable speech of leader of opposition (LoP) and Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge, against BJP at an event in Alwar, Rajasthan.
Despite Dhankhar's repeated appeals and instructions to the leaders of the House, Piyush Goyal and LoP Kharge to "control" their members, the MPs from both sides continued passing comments against each other. The Rajya Sabha chaiman said, "We are setting a very bad example. And, I can tell you, people outside are disillusioned. This kind of display of conduct and behaviour gives us a very, very bad name...Even the observations of the Chair that are wholesome are indigestible. What a painful scenario we are having! Trust me, 135 crore people are laughing at us."
He also that people may have different views and there may be disagreements on some issues, but it was bad to see opposition members creating disturbance when the leader of the House is speaking and the treasury MPs doing the same when LoP speaks. "Is it tit for tat? We are not children," Dhankhar said.
The Chairman also asked the members to submit the documents or videos of any claim that they make in their speech. He said they have last opportunity to comply with this and members failing to do so will see "exemplary consequences". Dhankhar said, "In performing my constitutional duties, I will neither look at this side nor at that side, I will look only to the Constitution."