Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not intend to question the integrity of his predecessor Manmohan Singh when he raised doubts about Congress leaders meeting officials from Pakistan before the elections in Gujarat, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
“The prime minister in his speeches did not question, nor meant to question, the commitment to this nation of either former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or former Vice President Hamid Ansari,” Jaitley said. “Any such perception is erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India.”
Jaitley’s attempt to clarify Modi’s earlier remarks after Congress leaders, once again, disrupted Parliament proceedings on Wednesday – when the Houses convened after four days for the Winter Session. They have repeatedly demanded that the prime minister apologise for his comments about Singh.
After Jaitley’s statement, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad thanked him for the clarification. “I, on behalf of my [Congress] party, say that we disassociate from any comments made by any member during the elections that may have hurt the prime minister’s dignity,” he said. “We also do not want any such thing to be said in future.”
Forced adjournment in both Houses
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned till 2 pm soon after the proceedings began on Wednesday as Opposition leaders brought up the controversy over Modi’s comments on Singh as well as the way former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family were treated in Pakistan on Monday.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Upper House that she will give a detailed statement on Jadhav’s meeting with his wife and mother on Thursday.
In the Rajya Sabha too, there was chaos because of Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde’s comments about the Constitution. Opposition leaders protested against his comments from Sunday, when he claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will “change the Constitution”.
“If a person has no belief in the Constitution, he has no right to be a member of Parliament,” Azad said. When the House reconvened, Union minister Vijay Goel said the government did not support Hegde’s views, but Opposition parties then demanded Hegde’s resignation.
Earlier, the Congress gave a suspension of business notice in the Rajya Sabha over Modi’s comments on Singh.
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