'RSS Works For...': Congress' Kharge vs Jagdeep Dhankar In Rajya Sabha
congress mallikarjun kharge vs jagdeep dhankar in rajya sabha over rss
New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge sparked an uproar in the Parliament on Monday with his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP over issues including the ongoing controversy surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the arrests of Opposition leaders. Kharge also targeted the ruling government over the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the appointments of its members.
Participating in the discussion held on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said, “All our institutions have been captured by one organisation," that the RSS and the BJP have collectively damaged the country's institutions.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar intervened, questioning whether being a member of any organisation is a crime. Kharge continued, stating that the RSS ideology is a threat to the nation.
Dhankar stated that "RSS is an organisation that works for the country and is internationally renowned," which caused protests in the House.
The Congress chief stated that thousands of NEET aspirants were affected by the paper leak. He pointed out that the government initially denied the leak but later admitted to irregularities. Kharge also called for the scrapping of the Agnipath scheme. "President has said we will work together. But the words have been confined to just speech and not in action," he said.
Kharge also targeted the President’s address to Parliament, saying it lacked vision and accused the ruling party of focusing on slogans rather than actual development. He further attacked the Prime Minister for not visiting Manipur, which has been facing unrest for the past year, and claimed the Prime Minister is only adept at giving slogans.
Chaotic scenes erupted in both Houses of Parliament on Monday. The Opposition walked out of the Lok Sabha after Speaker Om Birla refused to consider LoP Rahul Gandhi’s proposal for a one-day discussion on the paper leak issue.