Politics
Kharge, Nadda trade barbs in Rajya Sabha over police action
Mallikarjun Kharge and JP Nadda traded barbs in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday over police action against protesters.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and BJP leader JP Nadda traded barbs in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday over police action against student protesters.
Kharge pointed to an attempt by a Delhi Police team to detain SFI leader Aishe Ghosh from the CPM’s AKG Bhavan office on Tuesday, calling it “very shameful” that police would “barge into a national party office and try to arrest.”
“I request you, people who have gone there unauthorised, they should be punished,” Kharge told the House, adding, “Democracy is not safe, people are not safe.”
Nadda, in his capacity as Leader of the House, defended the police action, calling it “a very normal law and order situation that we have to understand,” and insisting police had “acted according to the law and order situation.”
He added that “any student who is into activism will have to face such a situation,” citing his own arrest as a student activist during the Emergency.
The exchange follows the July 20 ‘Sansad Chalo’ march, when protesters affiliated with the Cockroach Janta Party marched from Jantar Mantar towards Parliament over alleged exam paper leaks.
The march turned confrontational after security personnel tried to stop it, with reports of lathi-charge and tear gas shelling during the clashes.
The protests eventually led to the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 25, following weeks of demonstrations over exam-related concerns.
The exchange in the Rajya Sabha came as the Lok Sabha continued to debate the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, intended to strengthen action against paper leak rackets.
The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, which proposes stricter penalties including imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh for organised paper leak rackets, has been under discussion in the Lok Sabha through the week.
(Image: Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India (GODL-India), via Press Information Bureau)