Controversies seem to keep dogging Haryana Cabinet Ministers. Even before the “tweet controversy” stirred by Health Minister Anil Vij could be doused, another Cabinet Minister Ram Bilas Sharma has triggered a fresh controversy by using objectionable words against the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma had used a cussword on Nehru during an anecdote he cited, speaking at an event at Maharishi Dayanand University campus in Rohtak on Sunday. A day after, his Cabinet colleague Anil Vij’s statement on the issue has once again pushed him into the headlines. Vij while talking to the mediapersons on Monday said that wrong words should not be used against anyone. But Nehru was not a good man, he said.
Meanwhile, Sharma has defended himself, saying that he did not want to disgrace Nehru but was citing a Haryanvi anecdote in which a cussword was used. “I did not mean to be disrespectful towards the country’s first Prime Minister. I was just using Haryanvi dialect and referring to conversation between co-passengers who had boarded a bus from Rohtak to Delhi when Nehru had passed away. If anybody’s sentiments have been hurt, I apologise for the same,” said Sharma at Panchkula.
The remarks of Haryana Ministers have been criticised by the Opposition Congress, saying that use of such language by senior Ministers in the BJP Government against national icons cannot be tolerated and is holding statewide protests over the matter.
Responding to these statements, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership to take action. “This is shameful; they have no respect for the country or its leaders. Pandit Nehru was not only a national leader, he was a leader of international repute. The statements just show that this BJP Government in Haryana has been formed by an accident. It does not have leaders of caliber, said he.
Hooda also cautioned that till the time action was taken or a proper apology tendered by the BJP leaders, his party would not allow the Assembly to function.
Adding to this, Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar said the remarks were part of the right-wing party’s campaign to humiliate national icons. Tanwar, while condemning the remark, said that the use of such words by the Ministers come barely a couple of days after an orientation session of Haryana legislators where they were taught how to conduct themselves in public.
“This is part of concerted right-wing drive to humiliate national icons. Respecting elders, especially the deceased is part of our culture. Indians call Nehruji Chacha and insulting him is an affront to nation. We condemn this behaviour,” he added.
Earlier, Minister Ram Bilas had kicked up a row with his remarks that the State Government was keen to “saffronise” education, days after it took a decision to include ‘Bhagwad Gita’ in the school curriculum. On the other hand, his Cabinet colleague Anil Vij seems to have become controversy’s favorite child. The outspoken Minister had recently stirred up a controversy with his tweets.
From criticising his own party after Delhi’s Assembly polls to taking a veiled dig at Haryana Chief Minister, the party veteran and well-known BJP leader who represents the Ambala Assembly seat has remained in the limelight since the formation of BJP-led State Government in Haryana.