RSS song row: D K Shivakumar says ready to apologise if anyone is hurt
Bengaluru (PTI): Apparently stung by criticism from within the party for singing the RSS’ prayer song, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday offered to apologise if anyone was hurt over its rendition in the state assembly and asserted he was a Congressman and would die as one.
Shivakumar, also the state Congress president, had taken everyone by surprise by singing the RSS prayer song on the floor of the House.
The Deputy CM said he only made a "passing reference" in the Assembly.
On August 21, Shivakumar recited a couple of lines of the RSS’ prayer "Namaste Sada Vatsale..." in the Assembly during a debate on the June 4 Chinnaswamy stadium stampede.
Addressing reporters here, he said, "I'm not bigger than anyone, my life is there to give strength to everyone. I have stood by everyone in their difficulty, still I stand by them...as a loyal Congressman I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings... If you want an apology, yes. For all the Congressmen and many political party friends of INDIA bloc they may be hurt."
"If you feel that I have done a mistake, which I have not done, I'm still ready to apologise."
Reaffirming his loyalty to the Congress party and Gandhi family, Shivakumar said, "My loyalty to the Congress party and Gandhi family cannot be questioned by anyone. I'm a born Congressman, I will die as a Congressman."
Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad on Monday had wondered if Shivakumar was trying to “impress someone” by singing the RSS’ prayer inside the Assembly.
"We have no objection to Shivakumar reciting the prayer as the Deputy CM because a government belongs to all, including the RSS. If he said it as Congress president, he’ll have to apologise," he had said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
PM Modi, myself don't have 'wife issue': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): In a friendly banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he didn’t have "the wife issue", as the Congress MP emphasised that everyone has learnt from women in their lives.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Gandhi said women are a driving force in the national imagination and national perspective.
"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Gandhi said.
"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said while referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's light-hearted remark that he got a scolding at home as he did not pen a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal did.
Gandhi also lauded his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Gandhi said to peals of laughter.
