New Delhi: Taking a dig at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her attack on former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during a debate on the Constitution, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the former’s English was good, but not her deeds. He made the remark in Rajya Sabha while underlining that the Union minister herself graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
“I have to tell them that I also know how to read. I have studied at municipality school. She (Nirmala Sitharaman) studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University. It is certain that her English will be good, her Hindi will be good, but her deeds are not good,” Kharge said.
Earlier, the Finance Minister had accused Nehru of curbing freedom of speech in 1951 by amending the Constitution.
‘RSS didn’t accept the tricolour, Constitution’
He accused the of abusing the Gandhi family. “Those who hated the tricolour, Ashok Chakra and the Constitution” were ‘today giving lessons on the Constitution’, the Congress MP said.
“Those people who hate the national flag, those who hate our ‘Ashok Chakra’, those who hate the Constitution… such people are trying to teach us. When the Constitution was made, these people burned it. They torched effigies of Babasaheb Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi at Ramleela Maidan (in Delhi) the day the Constitution was adopted,” the Congress president said. He echoed Rahul Gandhi to allege that RSS leaders had opposed the Constitution as it was not based on the Manusmriti.
“The RSS opposed the Constitution because it was not based on Manusmriti… Neither did they accept the Constitution nor the tricolour,” he added. The MP also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the “number one liar.” “It was said that Rs 15 lakh would come but nothing came… these people are misleading the country and deceiving the people by lying. The Prime Minister should have told what he has done in the last 11 years to strengthen the Constitution,” he added.
‘BJP should be motivated by Indira Gandhi to help minorities in Bangladesh’
Kharge also urged the BJP to draw inspiration from Indira Gandhi. “Today is Bangladesh Liberation Day. The late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi saved our nation, she was the Iron Lady. Maybe the BJP leaders can be motivated by her to help the minorities there,” Kharge said in a reference to the attack on Hindus in the neighbouring country.
