Amid row over BJP MP Anurag Thakur’s remark against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Prime Minster Modi shared the video of the five time BJP MP’s speech and said it is a “must hear”.
“This speech by my young and energetic colleague, Shri Anurag Thakur is a must hear. A perfect mix of facts and humour, exposing the dirty politics of the INDIA bloc,” the prime minister added.
The Congress party since has taken exception to the Prime Minister’s shout out and accused him of encouraging “breach of parliamentary privilege” by endorsing the speech, which the grand old party branded as “highly abusive and unconstitutional tirade”.
“Anurag Thakur is immature but was there a need for the Prime Minister to tweet?” the Rajya Sabha LoP Kharge said.
“PM Modi should know where to speak and who to defend. Leaving that aside, he is talking about inflaming sentiments. This should not be allowed in Parliament, it should be expunged,” Kharge charged.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh pointed out that despite the Chair Jagadambika Pal assuring MPs that the comments would be expunged, Sansad TV uploaded the unedited speech, and the Prime Minister publicly shared and praised it. He called this a “new and shameful low in the annals of India’s parliamentary history” and said it reflects the “BJP-RSS and Mr. Modi’s deep-rooted casteism.”
Samajwadi Party leader a Akhilesh Yadav and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also fired salvos at Anurag Thakur’s comments. Akilesh Yadav questioned the appropriateness of asking someone’s caste, while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra pointed out that a socio-economic caste census is demanded by 80% of the country’s population.
Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said that the words used by Thakur for Rahul Gandhi have backfired for the BJP and angered people, echoing in their minds.