New Delhi: Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday offered to quit the Lok Sabha if allegations by some BJP MPs that he was "anti-Dalit" were proved and also filed a privilege motion against them.
Scindia threw the challenge in the Lok Sabha and asked the MPs who had accused him of making anti-Dalit remarks and participating in anti-Dalit activities to either prove their charges or quit the House.
He raised the issue when the House assembled after the swearing-in ceremony of the new President K N Kovind, saying that BJP MPs Veerendra Kumar, Manohar Utwal and Nand Kumar Chauhan had levelled certain "baseless allegations" against him that pertained to the Dalit community.
Scindia said if their allegations are found to be true, then he would quit as the member of the House and demanded that if the BJP MPs failed to prove their allegation, then they should tender their resignation. They should also tender a public apology, he said.
"They (BJP MPs) have been making wrong and baseless allegations against me for the past few days. ... My image has been tarnished. I seek your protection," the MP from Guna in Madhya Pradesh told Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
He said he has been working with all downtrodden sections of the society for a long time.
In a letter to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Scindia said he was moving the privilege motion against Kumar and Utwal, saying the accusations by the two MPs on the floor of the House yesterday are "absolutely and totally baseless and false." He also demanded an unconditional public apology from them.
Defending him, Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said Scindia has been fighting for the well-being of the Dalits in the House over the last 15 years.
As Congress members, including Scindia, Kantilal Bhuria, K C Venugopal and Ravneet Singh Bittu, rushed to the Well, the Speaker said she was trying to accomodate everyone by allowing them to ventilate their concerns.
She also allowed HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar to move the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017, for consideration and passage.
Responding to the Congress members, BJP MPs indulged in heated exchanges, leading to a ruckus in the House.
This led Mahajan to warn the members that if any one of the officials or the Secretary General are harmed even by mistake, then consequences would not be good.
Anguished over the unruly scenes, the Speaker said, "if you are bent upon creating a ruckus, how will the House run? I have told you to raise your concerns under the rules... Don't try to teach me (how to run the House)".
Kharge said the opposition also wants the House to function. He also accused Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar of trying to add fuel to the fire.
As the din continued, Mahajan adjourned the House for the day.
