Kharge protests in Lok Sabha

Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, and other MPs of the party on Monday protested when they noticed a government officer was taking notes and counting the number of the parliamentarians in the House.

The official was in the Officers' Gallery in the Lok Sabha and the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal later said that he was an officer of his ministry.

"It is surveillance. Who is he? Why is he taking notes? He is counting the number of MPs,” Kharge told Speaker Sumitra Mahajan as he and his party MPs rose to protest against the activity of the officer.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan assured Kharge and other agitated MPs. She said that although she could not see the Officers' Gallery from her podium, she would look into the matter later.

"People even now can see who is winking in the House," Javadekar said, dismissing the concerns expressed by the Congress MPs. He was referring to Rahul Gandhi's wink in the Lok Sabha recently after hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.