Kharge, Goyal exchange barbs in Lok Sabha
New Delhi, Aug 9 : Lok Sabha on Thursday witnessed a heated exchange between interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge with the minister challenging Kharge to fight an election against him from Mumbai.
Goyal, who was speaking on the four GST bills taken up by the House for passage, targeted Congress and said it will be reduced to a single digit in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Kharge hit back saying the minister had not even won an election.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar sought an aplogy from Kharge over his remarks.
Congress members were near the Speaker's podium and raising slogans in favour of their demand for a joint parliamentary committee to probe the Rafale fighter jet deal during Goyal's speech.
Kharge said the Goods and Services Tax has been implemented in a flawed manner by the Modi government.
He said the minister had never fought an election but was saying that "the Congress will not win even four seats."
"I want to remind you that you were two members once, and you are talking about us," he said.
As members of treasury benches protested, Kumar said the Kharge was a senior member but was ignorant of rules of procedure.
"Piyush Goyal Ji is elected to the other House. He has been elected by the States. He knows that, in the constitutional scheme made by Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, anybody can be elected to either of the two Houses of Parliament. Therefore, if this basic knowledge is not with Kharge Ji, then, he should apologize to the entire House. He should apologize to Piyush Goyal Ji," Kumar said.
The minister said senior former prime minister Manmohan Singh was also a Rajya Sabha member.
"They should remember Dr Manmohan Singh, who is six-time MP from Assam, is still in the other House. We respect him for he became the Prime Minister of this country twice. The same question which Mallikarjun Kharge Ji is asking our friend Piyush Goyal should be posed to Dr. Manmohan Singh also," he said.
Kumar also targeted Congress over not conferring Bharat Ratna on B.R. Ambedkar and putting up a candidate against him in the Lok Sabha elections.
Kumar said Ambedkar was conferred Bharat Ratna by V.P. Singh government which was supported by the BJP.
Goyal said he spoke at some length as the House was considering four GST bills.
"I did not say anything derogatory. I never imagined he would be so frustrated that he would start making personal allegations. I challenge you to come and fight an election against me in Mumbai," Goyal said.
Congress member K.C. Venugopal said Kharge had been forced to respond as Goyal had targeted Congress several times during his 45-minute speech.
"Congress brought democracy to the country, that is why you are here," he said.
The Congress leader also referred to the Rafale deal and said a joint parliamentary committee should be formed to look into it.
He asked the government why it was not disclosing the price of the fighter jet.
Goyal responded by stating that the agreement was in the country's interest and the allegations were unfounded.
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Suspected drones observed along IB in Jammu's Samba, being engaged: Army
Jammu, May 12 (PTI): Security forces are engaging suspected drones observed along the International Border in Samba district of Jammu region on Monday, an Army said.
This fresh incident of drone activity along the borderline comes barely hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first address to the nation following Operation Sindoor and the meeting of the DGMOs of India and Pakistan.
The Army, however, said there is no need to be alarmed.
“A small number of suspected drones have been observed near Samba in J&K. They are being engaged,” it said.
In the backdrop of the situation, several areas witnessed blackouts in Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, and Jammu.
Lights were switched off at the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi and along its track as a precautionary measure, sources said.
On Monday, talks between the DGMOs were held during which issues related to the continuing commitment that both sides must not fire a single shot or initiate any aggressive or inimical action against each other were discussed, the Indian Army said.
It was also agreed that both sides would consider immediate measures to ensure troop reduction along the borders and in forward areas, it added.
The situation remained largely peaceful across Jammu and Kashmir, with no incidents of ceasefire violation reported along the Indo-Pak border Sunday overnight — marking the first calm night after 18 days of hostilities following the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people — mostly tourists — dead.
India and Pakistan on Saturday reached an understanding to cease all firing and military actions on land, air, and sea with immediate effect, following four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes that brought the two countries to the brink of full-scale war.
Eighteen days of intense hostilities following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, which brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war, ended with a ceasefire that restored calm along the Line of Control, the International Border, and the hinterland in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army thwarted Pakistan’s Hamas-style kamikaze drone attacks during the escalation.
Since the night of April 24, hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistani troops repeatedly targeted Indian positions along the LoC — beginning in the Kashmir Valley and quickly expanding to the Jammu region.
The latest hostilities began in the northern districts of Kupwara and Baramulla in the Kashmir Valley, before spreading southwards to Rajouri, Poonch, Akhnoor, and the Pargwal sector along the International Border in Jammu district. The firing affected five border districts — Baramulla, Kupwara, Poonch, Rajouri, and Jammu.
The recent round of cross-border firing further undermined the ceasefire agreement reached in February 2021, which has largely been seen as ineffective due to Pakistan’s frequent violations along the 740-km-long LoC.
The April 22 terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people — mostly tourists — in Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley, triggered a strong response from the central government.
The India-Pakistan border stretches over 3,300 kilometers, divided into three segments: the International Border (IB), spanning about 2,400 km from Gujarat to Akhnoor in Jammu; the 740-km-long Line of Control (LoC) that divides Jammu and Kashmir; and the 110-km-long Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), which separates the Siachen Glacier region.
WATCH: OP Sindoor continues. Minutes after PM Speech.
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) May 12, 2025
A small numbers of suspected drones being observed near Samba in J&K. Being engaged . pic.twitter.com/jmGmRkmQ26
