New Delhi: BJP leader Tarun Vijay’s racist remarks against south Indians caused huge uproar in Lok Sabha as the Congress-led Opposition demanded that he be booked for sedition.
Despite assurances from home minister Rajnath Singh and parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar that Mr Vijay had apologised for his comments as they were “indefensible”, the unrelenting Opposition disrupted the proceedings in the lower house thrice and finally staged a walkout.
The trouble started as soon as the House met for the day at 11 am, when Congress MPs K.C. Venugopal and Mallikarjun Kharge tried raising the issue during Question Hour. Despite Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s assurance that they will be allowed to do so during Zero Hour, Congress and Left MPs entered the well of the house, forcing an adjournment for 10 minutes at 11.10 am.
Later, during Zero Hour, Mr Kharge while raising the issue, read out Mr Vijay’s comments. “We want to know whether south Indians are citizens of India or not?” he asked.
At this juncture, Mr Rajnath Singh got up to respond and said that the concerned person (without naming Mr Vijay) has already apologised.
