The ruling party and the Opposition on Thursday clashed on a new front in their ongoing war of words on the demonetisation of Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes after leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad likened Uri terror attack casualties to the deaths during the demonetisation “crisis”. The ruling side termed his comment as “anti-national” and clamoured for an apology from the Congress, leading to adjournment of the Upper House for the day. The Rajya Sabha Chairman later expunged Azad’s comment from the record.
While demanding the presence of PM Narendra Mondi in the Rajya Sabha and asserting that the House will not be allowed to function till the PM is present during the debate, Azad said 40 people had died due to hardship caused by the Government’s decision on demonetisation.
“People are suffering because of demonetisation. The death toll has reached 40. In the attack by Pakistani terrorists (on Army camp) in Uri (in Kashmir), even half of the deaths did not take place. People, more than double that figure, have died due to wrong policy of the Government,” he said. In the Uri attack, 18 Army personnel had been killed.
Taking strong objection to Azad’s comment, Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu rushed into the House, termed the comments as “anti-national” and demanded an apology from Congress besides seeking deletion of the remarks from the official records of the Upper House.
Naidu was also joined by Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Ananth Kumar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who stood on their feet requesting Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to ask the Congress for an immediate apology.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the remarks by former Union Minister are “atrocious, anti-national and an insult to the martyrs”. His comments have not only hurt the sentiments of general public but is also a blow to our soldiers who are working day and night for their country, he added.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also criticised Azad’s remarks and regretted the comparison of demonetisation problems with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism at Uri. “Certainly not a responsible political comment. What is the vested interest of Congress party in opposing this campaign to root out black money, crime money and make the Indian economy cleaner. Congress as a national party must support this,” Jaitley said outside Parliament.
Early in the day, a determined Opposition did not allow the House to function and forced repeated adjournments over the demonetisation issue demanding Prime Minister’s presence in the House and a response from him regarding the hardships faced by common people.
The mood for the day was set when Derek O’Brien (TMC) made a caustic remark against Modi that “the person who made the demonetisation announcement at eight pm on November 8, where is he”.
The Treasury benches objected to the remark with Naidu asking the chair to refrain the members from using such language against the Prime Minister.
Backing the TMC leader’s demand, Congress members also said the Prime Minister should be in the House during the discussion and trooped into the Well shouting slogans. Soon, members from other Opposition parties, including TMC and BSP also came into the well.
AIADMK members also rushed into the well regarding the Cauvery water issue leading to pandemonium. Kurien tried to restore order and then adjourned the house twice before the Question Hour.
Similar scenes were witnessed during the Question Hour leading to adjournment till after lunch. When the House met again and Kurien asked Naresh Agrawal (SP) to resume the discussion on demonetisation, the SP leader also raised the demand for Modi’s presence.
Even as Kurien maintained that Jaitley was present in the House to answer the Opposition, Agrawal and his colleagues quipped the Prime Minister did not take the Finance Minister into confidence before the demonetisation decision. Unable to restore order, the Chair then adjourned the House again.