The Lok Sabha witnessed a ruckus on Friday when MoS Finance Anurag Thakur took a jibe at the Nehru-Gandhi family while speaking on the Taxation and Other Laws (Re- laxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill. Thakur took a sharp jibe at the Congress and attacked former PM Jawaharlal Nehru for setting up the PM Relief Fund in 1948, alleging that the funds had been used by the family and trust and that initial clearance had not been taken at that time.
Congress MPs were up in arms and demanded an apology from the minister. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary objected to Thakur’s statement and said that those who are not in this world should not be targeted for political benefits. This saw an uproar in the Lok Sabha and the house had to be adjourned thrice. The ruckus in the house was not limited to Congress and BJP but also involved a war of words between the BJP and the TMC when BJP MP Locket Chatterjee attacked West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and accused her of a scam. TMC MPs were quick to aggressively target the BJP and this also led to adjournment.
The monsoon session of parliament, which started from 14 September, saw three adjournments in the
Lok Sabha for the first time. The situation flared up so much that Speaker Om Birla had to call leaders to his room to settle down the matter so that the house could function smoothly and purposefully. This meeting chaired by the Speaker led to a consensus among all parties.
When the house resumed proceedings, Anurag Thakur apologised for his remark and said, “If any member is hurt by the facts presented during my speech, I am pained too by this.”
The Speaker’s role came up for a special mention and praise from both the ruling side as well as the Opposition. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was present in the house, praised the Speaker for the way he has been running the house and added that Anurag Thakur is a four-time member of the house and if some remark has hurt any member of the house, “we also understand and feel it”. Opposition leaders also praised the Speaker about the way the entire thing was handled.
