New Delhi: Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Tuesday slammed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, alleging that he does not want the House to function. Tagore said that it is the responsibility of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister to ensure smooth proceedings in Parliament, but Rijiju has “developed a habit” of not running the House.
Speaking to IANS outside Parliament, Tagore said, “Kiren Rijiju does not want the House to run. The job of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister is to run the House, but Kiren Rijiju has developed a habit of not running the House.”
He further alleged that the government was doing things that violate parliamentary norms. Referring to a video reportedly released by Rijiju, Tagore questioned its intent and content.
“That’s why they are doing everything which violates parliamentary norms. The video which he released — in that video, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not there. Then whose ‘gherao’ did these MPs go for? If the Prime Minister had been there, then it would have been a different matter. Then whose ‘gherao’ did they all go there for?” he asked.
Tagore claimed the incident reflected that Rijiju was not focussed on ensuring the House runs smoothly. He also took a swipe at the minister for sharing videos instead of addressing parliamentary issues.
“This shows that Kiren Rijiju doesn’t want to run the House. He is not a Parliamentary Affairs Minister, he can only post videos. He can post TikTok videos. He can’t run the Parliament,” Tagore told IANS.
“He posts such videos which don’t have anything. This has only caused loss to Parliament. As long as he is the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, I don’t think the Parliament will run,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Kiren Rijiju posted a video of the stand-off that unfolded in Lok Sabha on February 4, and slammed what he said was the “most degrading behaviour” of Congress and Opposition MPs, “which could have turned the House into a battleground if not managed and handled tactfully.”
The incident referred to by Rijiju occurred in the Lok Sabha on February 4, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address. Several women Congress MPs moved towards the Prime Minister’s chair, purportedly with the intent to obstruct his entry into the House and confront him.
The fresh video, shared by Rijiju, shows women MPs “gheraoing” the Prime Minister’s chair and refusing to budge despite repeated persuasion from several Union Ministers.
In the video, two or three ministers, including Ashwini Vaishnaw, Giriraj Singh and other MPs, are seen pleading and persuading the women lawmakers to go back to their seats and refrain from such unparliamentary behaviour, but the latter remained unrelenting and stood firm with banners and posters.
This had prompted Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to urge the Prime Minister to skip the Lok Sabha proceedings, as this could have led to some unpleasant and ugly outcome. The Lower House eventually passed the Motion of Thanks without the Prime Minister’s reply.
Kiren Rijiju, lambasting the Congress party for ‘egging on’ its women MPs to block the alley where the Prime Minister would have walked into the House, said that the BJP lawmakers displayed maturity and restraint, otherwise this could have led the House into complete bedlam.
“Congress Party is proud of the most degrading behaviour by their MPs!! If we had not stopped all BJP MPs and allowed the Women MPs to confront Congress MPs, it would have led to very ugly scene. We have very high consideration, to protect the dignity & sanctity of the Parliament,” he wrote, sharing the video.
(IANS)
