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Will resign if 'anti-Dalit' charge proved: Scindia

Last Updated 25 July 2017, 19:31 IST

The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Tuesday after the Opposition created a ruckus over a range of issues.

This included two BJP members’ remarks against Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, portraying him as “anti-Dalit”.

Amid the uproar, the Opposition also pressed for holding a discussion in the Lok Sabha on various incidents of lynching in the name of cow protection. BJP members Virendra Kumar and Manohar Utwal, while speaking in the House during the Question Hour on Monday, had claimed that Scindia had recently made insensitive comments against Dalits and participated in “anti-Dalit activities”.

“They have made false accusations against me. My image has been tarnished,” a visibly angry Scindia said, raising the issue in the Lok Sabha after it reassembled at 3 pm on Tuesday. A local Dalit MLA of the BJP, Gopilal Jatav, recently inaugurated a trauma centre at a government hospital in Scindia’s Guna constituency in Madhya Pradesh, a day ahead of its scheduled opening by the Congress leader.

After this incident, Scindia’s local representative Amit Tawre said the trauma centre would be sanctified by Ganga water. Tawre, however, was expelled by the district Congress for his statement. “They are saying that I made the remarks against Dalits... These charges are absolutely incorrect. I challenge them,” Scindia said.

He also offered to resign if the accusations against him were true. “Otherwise, I demand that they resign from this House. They must also publicly apologise,” Scindia said.

He also gave a notice for initiating a privilege motion against the BJP members for their remarks against him.

Meanwhile, the Congress' leader in the House, Mallikarjun Kharge, urged the House to revoke the suspension of six members of his party.

Members of other Opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, also urged the Speaker to revoke the suspension.

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(Published 25 July 2017, 19:16 IST)

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