Don't indulge in politics during Budget discussion or disrespect people's mandate: Kiren Rijiju

Addressing a press conference here, Rijiju said the manner in which some opposition leaders made their speeches amounted to insulting the House and lowering the dignity of the Budget session.

New Delhi: Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that the Opposition parties were politicising the discussion over the Budget and asked them not to 'disrespect' the people’s mandate against PM Modi. He said that he urges the Opposition to give constructive suggestions instead.

The Lok Sabha saw a heated debate on Thursday with Congress’s Charanjit Channi and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu who crossed over to the BJP just ahead of the polls. The House was adjourned briefly in the ensuing din during the discussion of the Union Budget. Speaker Om Birla also asked members to maintain decorum after BJP MP Abhijit Ganguly misbehaved with Congress deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday.

Channi, who spoke about the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala, said that while the treasury benches speak of Emergency, there is undeclared Emergency in the country. “In Hathras, a gangrape victim is burned without her family’s consent, isn’t that Emergency? In Madhya Pradesh, a Dalit man is urinated upon, isn’t that Emergency? Manipur is left to its own, isn’t that an emergency? This government has stopped farmers from coming here,” the former Punjab chief minister said.

A heated exchange soon broke out between him and union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, with Channi speaking of Bittu’s father and Bittu speaking against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. A heated disruption soon broke out with Congress leaders including Amarinder Raja Warring and Praniti Shinde entering the Well of the House. Union defence minister Rajnath Singh had to intervene, and the House was adjourned for a while.

After the discussion was resumed, Congress MP KC Venugopal demanded an apology from Bittu for his behaviour. Rajnath Singh then urges the Speaker to remove any member who uses unparliamentary language and disrupts the proceedings. Speaker Om Birla then urged all MPs to maintain decorum of the House.

TMC MP Sougata Roy said that finance minister Nirmalata Sitharaman was offering a tax bonanza for corporates. “They are willing to spend on a son’s wedding but are not investing in India,” he said. He added that the Centre had copied the education loans scheme from the ruling TMC government in West Bengal.

Congress MP Hibi Eden said the government is 'surviving on two ventilators'. "The Manipur crisis, the abrogation of Article 370, farmer protests are examples of the Modi government’s failure," he said.

DMK MP Tiruchi Siva said that there is blatant misuse of reservations for persons with disabilities and economically weaker sections in civil services exams. “This is a grave issue that casts a shadow on the sanctity of our public service institutions. Incidents where candidates are falsely claiming disabilities or economic hardships to secure a competitive edge are undermining the principle of justice. It is blatant exploitation of an essential system,” he said.