Congress's Ranjan Chowdhury calls Nirmala 'Nirbala', BJP protests
New Delhi, Dec 2: Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday took a swipe at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman by calling her "Nirbala", which immediately drew protest from BJP members in the House.
Participating in the discussion on the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, Chowdhury suggested that the finance minister has become weak and called her 'Nirbala Sitharaman'.
As the BJP members protested against his comment, Speaker Om Birla ruled that any unparliamentary remark would be removed from the records.
During her reply, Sitharaman did not directly refer to Chowdhury's comment but concluded her speech by saying she still is Nirmala and "sabla" (empowered).
"Under this government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, women are sablas," she said.
Chowdhury had also attacked the government during the debate, saying the ruling National Democratic Alliance can also be called the "Non-Delivery Agency" as it only makes promises.
Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur demanded that Chowdhury apologise and withdraw his remark against Sitharaman.
"You are raising question marks on her capability... She is here due to her merit," he said, adding that such remarks are disrespectful to women.
Chowdhury refused to withdraw his remark but said, "You can remove it from proceedings, if you wish."
He sought to defend himself saying he had said the finance minister did not have the freedom to work freely, therefore, "I wonder whether you are Nirmala or Nirbala."
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said instead of apologising, Chowdhury was defending his remark which was not right.
Seeking to calm the agitated members, Speaker Birla said unparliamentary comments from opposition as well as the treasury benches would be removed from the records.
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Surat LS candidate Nilesh Kumbhani whose nomination form was rejected suspended from Congress
Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.
"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.
Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.
Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.
