New Delhi: An Akali Dal member in Lok Sabha on Wednesday accused a Congress MP from Punjab of misleading the House over reported moves of the state government to construct a memorial in the Golden Temple, leading to a verbal spat between the two sides.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Prem Singh Chandumajra (SAD) accused Ravneet Singh (Congress) of presenting a "completely wrong" picture of the issue in the House yesterday by saying that photographs of terrorists had been put up there.
"There are no photographs other than Guru Granth Saheb in the Golden Temple," he said.
Contending that the definition of a terrorist can be different for different people, the Akali member said, "For Congress, even Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh are terrorists. But for us, they are martyrs."
Heated exchanges ensued immediately between Congress and Akali members, with Jyotiraditya Scindia (Cong) urging Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to expunge Chandumajra's remarks.
To this, the Speaker said: "I will see that later."
Ravneet Singh had yesterday said in the House that Punjab government was putting up pictures and constructing a memorial for terrorists in the temple complex.
Citing a series of murders in Saharanpur area of Uttar Pradesh in quick succession, Raghav Lakhanpal (BJP) demanded imposition of President's Rule in the state claiming rapid deterioration of law and order.
Members of the Samajwadi Party, ruling Uttar Pradesh, were not present as they had walked out earlier with other opposition parties, charging the government with misleading the House over observing 'good governance' day on Christmas.
While Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) asked the Centre to confer scheduled tribe status to Kol tribals in Uttar Pradesh in line with other states, Laxman Giluwa (BJP) sought inclusion of Ho language, spoken by people in parts of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.
Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu (TDP) wanted the Centre to expedite release of already sanctioned funds to Andhra Pradesh, while Sharad Tripathi and Jagdambika Pal (both BJP) sought construction of more night shelters in north India to help the homeless face the harsh winters.
