Goyal accuses Chidambaram of insulting RS chairman, asks him to apologise

New Delhi, Jul 26 (PTI) Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal on Wednesday accused senior Congress leader P Chidambaram of insulting Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar in the garb of being an "intellectual" and asked him to apologise in the house.

Goyal raised the issue during Question hour after Chidambaram questioned the chair as to why no question on the Manipur violence issue was answered or admitted for being taken up in the house. Chidambaram said questions are classified as starred and unstarred and he has been told by several members that questions have been asked about Manipur but they have neither been admitted nor answered in writing. "When I asked PRISM - the research facility established by you and the Speaker, which are the questions admitted and answered on that subject since Parliament session started on July 20 until today.

The answer shocked me. Not one question has been admitted or answered on the subject, the subject is Manipur," he said. At this, the chairman said he was not able to understand the point the Congress MP was making or whether he had a grievance. Goyal got up and termed this as "very unfortunate", saying a member is questioning the Chair and passing remarks on the Chair. "The Chair is dragged into a controversy. I believe that Chidambaram must apologise. The questions he raised on the Chair are contempt in a way and until Chidambaram apologises to the Chair, we will keep doing the rest of the things but the way in which Chidambaram commented on you (the Chair) and raised questions and the decision of the Chair for the sake of scoring a small brownie point," Goyal said. Noting that this was Chidambaram's "usual way", he said, "In the garb of an intellectual, in the garb of big reasoning, he (Chidambaram) cannot insult the Chair." Goyal also said in the same manner, members who despite being called by the chair and present in the House are not raising questions. "I believe you must take a decision that raising of questions by such members be disallowed in future," he said. Dhankar said, "I have looked into the record. I have listened to the audio, because what Mr Chidambaram said yesterday, and what he said subsequently, the two were not in consonance." "I have seen (the record). I am seized of the matter and I am pretty sure that when a senior member of his stature, with his background - professional and political - and in the executive as a senior Minister, makes such kind of observation, what could be the way out. I will seek guidance from members also. I am seized of the matter and discussion will take place once I have taken a view on this," he said. Dhankhar had on Tuesday ticked Chidambaram off for his "intemperate and inappropriate" choice of words against the Chair after he questioned why the former was not giving priority to notices under Rule 267. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan also raised the issue of decorum in the Upper House and said members not asking questions after submitting supplementaries is "unconstitutional and against democracy". He said the government is ready to answer questions on all issues, as he attacked the Opposition saying, "these are people who run away and hide their face after asking questions. These are cowards." Dhankar also said that he witnessed this "spectacle" in the house, pointing out that when called for asking questions, the members were not asking questions. "I called out name of the member, they were present in the House, they did not focus on their question. They went into transgression. Not expected. I am so sorry. I was very attentive. I looked at every member and all around," the chairman said. Members from the opposition did not ask questions when their turn came and instead starting raising the Manipur issue, while raising their demand for a discussion. The chairman did not allow them from raising issues other than the questions or special mentions, and said nothing will go on record.