In a rare outburst, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday made a controversial statement in the House apparently questioning the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) over its record of sacrifices made for the country.
The comment sparked a huge row with MPs from the ruling party demanding the comment to be expunged.
The statement was deemed unparliamentary by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan who ordered to expunge the remarks from the records.
Mahajan snubbed Kharge for his comment and said that such language must be avoided.
Participating in the Motion of Thanks to the President for his Address here, the Congress leader said the Congress protected democracy for 70 years, slamming the ruling party for saying repeatedly that the Congress did not do anything for years.
He said that the Congress should be thanked for protecting the democracy in the country because of which Narendra Modi, coming from a poor family, could become the Prime Minister of India.
"I think you brought Green Revolution. And White Revolution in your Gujarat also came in your time... (Verghese) Kurien was also born in these times -- everything happened in the last two and half years," Kharge said sarcastically.
"We brought Green Revolution to feed the people, we brought White Revolution... You question what happened in 70 years, if nothing had been done, you would not have been alive, there would not have been democracy, the Constitution would not have been protected," he said.
"We protected the Constitution. If Modi came from a poor family and became the Prime Minister, the credit goes to the Congress, which kept democracy alive," Kharge added.
Prime Minister Modi was present in the Lok Sabha at the time Kharge made the remarks.
As members from treasury benches pointed at the Emergency, the Congress leader said: "At that time there was declared Emergency, today there is undeclared Emergency."
"In the name of Sanatan Dharma, you want people to be divided. You take God’s name to emotionally blackmail people," he added.
Targeting the government over demonetisation, Kharge said that 125 people died after note ban and Prime Minister should have at least apologised for the deaths.
