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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UGC should engage in dialogue with state govts before proposing changes to regulations: M C Sudhakar
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister M C Sudhakar has written to Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan expressing his opposition to the recently published draft UGC Regulations, 2025.
He said UGC should be engaging in a dialogue with state governments before proposing any changes.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) called for public consultation of its draft for Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education Regulations.
In a letter dated January 13, Karnataka Minister for Higher Education Sudhakar said the state strongly opposes certain provisions related to the appointment of Vice-Chancellors, which he said, strike at the root of the higher education system and powers of the state government.
According to the minister, the draft guidelines provide no role for the state government in selecting the Vice-Chancellor of a university.
"The guidelines provide for a search-cum-selection committee appointed by the Chancellor/Visitor with no nominee of the State Government. The powers to appoint the Vice-Chancellor out of the panel recommended by the search-cum-selection committee is given solely to the Visitor/Chancellor," added the minister.
The qualifications required for appointment of Vice-Chancellors, which include non-academicians, also requires serious deliberation, he added. As per draft, said the minister, if the Vice-Chancellor is not appointed as per these guidelines, the appointment shall be null and void.
"This would contradict the provisions of the legislations governing Universities in the state, including in relation to the tenure and reappointment of Vice-Chancellors," he added.
The minister said the state government plays a critical role in advancement of higher education in the state.
"Karnataka is at the forefront of higher education with a gross enrolment ratio higher than the national average. Substantial funds are provided by the state government to administer and run public universities in the state. Apart from developmental grants to universities, salaries and pensions of the permanent teaching and non-teaching staff are provided by the state exchequer," said Sudhakar.
He also said UGC should ideally be engaging in a dialogue with state governments to assess the present status and issues faced by the universities pertaining to various student related issues in the present system before proposing any radical changes to the existing guidelines.
He urged the union education minister to direct the UGC to withdraw the draft guidelines immediately and engage in a wider consultation with state governments.
