The Rajya Sabha Secretariat has expunged from its records Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments on Congress legislator BK Hariprasad, who was the Opposition’s candidate for the post of deputy chairperson of the Upper House, India Today reported.
Modi had made the comment while congratulating the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance’s candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh on being elected to the post. He had said the election was between “two Haris” and played on BK Hariprasad’s initials.
“Dono tariff Hari the, ek ke aage BK tha. BK Hari, koi na bikey. Yahan pe jo Hari koi BK BK nahi tha, (On both sides there were [people named] Hari. One’s name was prefixed by BK: BK Hari. Another one was not BK [punning on the Hindi word bikay, or sold]. The Hari here was neither BK nor sold),” Modi had said.
The Congress criticised the prime minister’s wordplay involving the legislator’s name. “The prime minister belittled the dignity of the chair and brought down the dignity of the House,” India Today quoted Hariprasad as saying.
According to the report, this is likely the first time a sitting prime minister’s remarks have been expunged from the Parliament’s record.
The Rajya Sabha Secretariat confirmed the news to the media group.
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