Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj Tuesday on Tuesday asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath to be polite and change his style if he wanted the house to run.
“You lack politeness. More than what you say, how you say matters. If you address this one issue, other things can be taken care of,” Sushma Swaraj told Kamal Nath after a spat between the Minister and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
The Opposition members lost cool after the House assembled at 2 pm, when the Minister started arguing with BJP leaders on the protests by TDP MPs. Joshi was angry with Kamal Nath over the way he spoke to him. “How can you speak to me like thisIJ No one has spoken to me like this in 40 yearsIJ He (Nath) is threatening...The House will not run. This is not the way to function,” a furious Joshi said in the lok Sabha.
Sensing fresh disruption of the House, Nath toned down immediately. He admitted he had spoken in anger but insisted he did not mean any disrespect to the veteran parliamentarian.
“I respect Joshiji, he is a senior leader. I spoke to him angrily that the house does not belong to me and that it belonged to him also. But if my words have hurt him, I take them back,” said Kamal Nath.
The spat took place when Joshi, who was to open the debate on the Food Security Bill, asked the Minister to control Congress members protesting against the creation of Telangana.