A ‘regret’ by Union Minister for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal, and a statement by leader of the Upper House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley defused the tension between the treasury benches and the main Opposition Congress in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Proceedings in the Rajya Sabha were disrupted entire Wednesday after Goyal commented on Congress member Kumari Selja’s statement about discrimination in a temple in Dwarka (Gujarat) by saying it was a “manufactured problem, manufactured discrimination”. Selja, while participating in a debate on the Constitution on Monday, had alleged that she had faced discrimination at the temple when she visited there as a Union Minister and was asked about her caste. In an apparent attack on PM Narendra Modi, she had said: “This was also a form of the Gujarat model.”
The Congress that demanded an apology on Wednesday continued with its protest on Thursday. However, it was agreed between the Government and the Opposition parties that Goyal will express regret for his words and the matter will end. However, Parliament Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu added that comments made by Selja on the Gujarat model needed to be reviewed by the Chair and “appropriate action was to be taken because a reference should not be made to a State and its people”.
This irked Congress further and they continued with protests even as Goyal read out a statement saying: “In view of the Chair’s decision to review the record, I regret the comments made with reference to my distinguished colleague, Kumari Selja.”
After lunch, Jaitley made a statement saying the issue raised by him on Kumari Selja’s statement on discrimination in Dwarkadheesh Temple does not survive after it was found the former Union Minister has talked about Bet Dwarka. Pacified with the statements, Congress members sat down to participate in the proceedings.