CPM member’s remark triggers ruckus in LS

 Mohammad Salim cited a news magazine which quoted Singh as having made a pro-Hindutva remark after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. Singh vehemently denied it and said he was never hurt so much in his Parliamentary career as he was on Monday. 

“Mohd Salim levelled a serious allegation against me. He should say when and where I made such a statement or apologise.... A Home Minister who makes such a statement has no moral right to be the Home Minister. I speak after weighing every word... People know Rajnath Singh can never make such a statement,” Singh said. 

Quoting the magazine, Salim said Singh had made the remark at an internal meeting of RSS. When some BJP members questioned whether he was present when such a reported comment was made, the CPI(M) member said, “I don’t have such misfortune to attend RSS meeting.” Members in the treasury benches, including Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy, demanded that Salim withdraw his remark till the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan takes a view by examining all sides, including authenticity of the report. With both sides sticking to their guns and uproar prevailing in the House, the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha for an hour. On his part, Salim insisted that he was not levelling any allegation but was only quoting from a reputed weekly. At the same time, Salim acknowledged that it was the Home Minister who was among the first from the government to speak against Dadri lynching incident. He said the Speaker may not put his comments on record till she verifies it but declined to take them back. 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said there was “some amount” of intolerance in the society which has to be identified and dealt with firmly. 

Without referring to any particular incident, Naidu participating in the debate in Rajya Sabha, said people making out of turn statements should be condemned, isolated and disowned. “There is some amount of intolerance in the society, in different areas. That has to be identified, it has to be localised, it has to be dealt with firmly. Instead of that, we are making it generalised,” he said as he referred to instances of killing of dalits and writers in certain states. 

He said incidents have not happened overnight after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. “These things have been happening. Some people making out of turn statement, we have to condemn, we have to isolate them... they have to be condemnd and disowned,” he said.

Mayawati supports GST but attacks govt on ‘intolerance’ 

BSP chief Mayawati on Monday announced support to the GST bill even as she attacked the government over alleged “intolerance, communalism and anarchy” and demanded action against Minister V K Singh for his remarks on the killing of Dalit children in Haryana. Participating in the debate on ‘Commitment to the Constitution’ in Rajya Sabha, she expressed concern over the condition of Scheduled Castes, OBCs and minorities, particularly Muslims. Taking strong objection to Singh’s ‘dog’ remarks after killing to two Dalit children in Haryana, Mayawati said the Minister should be dropped from the Council of Ministers and “sent to jail as such people deserve to be in jail and not in Parliament”. 

The BSP chief dared Modi to take action against his own ministerial and party colleagues, who she alleged are making “provocative” remarks. At the same time, she significantly chose the occasion to announce her unequivocal support to the GST bill, which is stuck in Rajya Sabha. “If your government is fully confident that bringing the GST Bill is in the interest of the nation, it will bring a change in the economy and give a boost to it, the BSP will definitely back it. Our party supports the Bill in Parliament,” she said.