NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha witnessed a heated exchange on Wednesday after AITC member Dola Sen raised the issue of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ November 25 directive to rename all Raj Bhavans in the country as Lok Bhavans during Zero Hour.
“But first of all, we would like to say that neither the Parliament, Assembly, nor the Cabinet is aware of this… They are not even discussing it with you, sir,” Sen said.
However, the discussion took a contentious turn when Sen raised additional issues, including MGNREGA, promoting the Chair to intervene and state that the deviated remarks won’t go on record.
Leader of the House J P Nadda objected to the deviation, saying, “You permitted her to speak during Zero Hour about the change of name from Raj Bhavan to Lok Bhavan. She spoke about MGNREGA and other issues. I would like to be very clear that because it does not related to the subject, it should be deleted and only issues relating to the Lok Bhawan should be admitted. Chairman C P Radhakrishnan concurred, reiterating that “anything deviated from the subject will not go on record”.
Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge came to Sen’s defence, arguing, “She has not spoken any unparliamentary word. Everything is connected with the subject. And that subject was examined in your office, after that she spoke.”
Accusing the government of stifling debate, Kharge said: “The Leader of the House cannot interfere and say whatever is said is unparliamentary and delete it. The Leader (of the House) is bulldozing. You don’t want to run according to parliamentary democracy.” The Chair maintained that proceedings were being conducted properly and urged the members to stick to the listed subjects during the Zero Hour.
Raj Bhawans were renamed as part of the series in which the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) shifting to a new building that is renamed as “Seva Teerth.”
