Farce over Selja remark: BJP makes amends; but can the Cong stop being churlish?

Facts, supported by the own signed statement of former Union minister and Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP Kumari Selja, has suddenly become ‘Dalit mahila ka apmaan… Samvidhan ka apmaan’ (insult of a Dalit woman and insult of the Constitution) for opposition Congress. The Congress succeeded in forcing Power Minister Piyush Goel to express “regret” to Selja for two words in his statement, otherwise perfectly valid in parliamentary language – both have now been removed from record. Finance Minister and Leader of the House Arun Jaitley and his other senior colleagues had to sit for rounds of discussions with Opposition leaders in the chairman’s chamber to resolve the crisis, which to use the words of a BJP leader was “manufactured”. After several rounds of adjournments the issue could finally be resolved at 2 pm on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_2532278” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kumari Selja. Ibnlive[/caption] It’s difficult to explain how an expose of a member’s own statement and conduct becomes insult of Constitution and of a Dalit woman. Deputy chairman PJ Kurien’s observation that the protest of the Congress members in the well of the House was “undemocratic… condemnable” cut no ice. It resulted in another adjournment. On Wednesday, in the Lok Sabha, the Congress created a ruckus to portray Union Minister VK Singh as anti-Dalit and demanded action against him. It didn’t matter that the party had enough opportunity to debate it during the four days of debate (two days of debate on Constitution and another two days on “intolerance”). Singh had clarified his statement and made a series of tweets in response to Rahul’s remark in Lok Sabha earlier. It raises the pertinent question why the Congress chose to take the disruption path yet again and tried to portray the Modi government as anti-Dailt. Was it because Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through his bipartisan speech on the occasion of Constitution Day, had made a somewhat successful attempt to hijack the Dalit agenda from his political rivals? Modi has for quite some time been trying to champion Ambedkar’s legacy both within and outside of the country. He was instrumental in the purchase of a private property where the Dalit legend had stayed in London for Rs 40 crore and converting into a memorial for him. Was the Congress thus making a conscious attempt to question Modi and the BJP’s commitment to their perceived Dailt agenda? There is an argument that the government should not have broken the broad consensus that had emerged in both Houses of Parliament, beginning with debate on Constitution Day on November 26. It’s also true that on Tuesday while speaking at the BJP parliamentary party meet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu had asked his party MPs “not to fall prey to the tactics of the opposition and get provoked into making any provocative statements.” That was precisely the reason why the BJP members barring a few interjections and mild noises allowed Rahul Gandhi to target PM Modi and his government. They had also exercised restraint in Rajya Sabha. The strategists and floor managers of Modi government are conscious that they need the Congress’s support to pass the GST bill and for that they would need to walk the extra mile. But it does not mean that the BJP would give an absolute walkover to the Congress and all its members on whatever misleading statements they make in Parliament. Facts, if not the rhetoric, will have to contested, a BJP leader said. He said in the same parliamentary party meeting Naidu had also asked the MPs “to be alert about the game plan of opposition and expose the disinformation campaign unleashed by opponents”. Kumari Selja’s statement, from the BJP’s perspective, fell in this category. Selja, as reiterated by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, had said “I was asked about my caste in Dwarka temple. You see this side of the Gujarat model also. See this scenario also about Dwarka temple”. Selja surely had given a political twist to the issue. She had visited Dwarkadhish temple on 22 February 2013 as Union Minister of Culture. Her statement drew reaction from the treasury benches not just because what she said misled the House and referred to the Gujarat model but also because the management of Dwarkadhish temple is pre-eminently with the state government. The website of the temple says: “Members of the Committee Shree Dwarkadhish Temple, also known as Trilokya Sunder Jagat Mandir, is located in spiritual city of Dwarka. Dwarka is also considered as symbol of ancient Hinduism. Long back Shri Adi Shankracharyaji had instituted Shardapeeth at Dwarka. There were frequent conflicts among the Shardapeeth, its administrators and local Gugli Brahmins regarding the pooja vidhi and rituals performed at Jagat Mandir. Considering the importance of the place, then Shrimant Gayakwad State, had taken the administration under government preview from 1903. Afterwards in 1932, the Gayakwad state had instituted a member council to decide the rituals and pooja vidhis of the temple. Subsequently, the temple has been registered as trust with charity commissioner. Presently, the administration of the temple is done by a committee consists of bureaucrats, and representatives of local bodies and residents. The present committee is valid with effect from 12.07.2001.” When she visited the place Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. It was perhaps because of these reasons that top ministers of the government took on Selja with an intent not only to “expose” her but also to set the records right. Finance Minister and Leader of the House Arun Jaitley, waving a handwritten piece of paper, said “When she visited the temple, she wrote this with her own hand and put her own signature. It says, `with Lord Krishna’s blessings, I had a very good darshan. The upkeep and the maintenance of the premises is excellent. May the Lord bless all and those who are fortunate enough to come here for his blessings’. She compliments the temple in writing, let alone complain against any kind of discrimination which took place there. Selja had later countered that she had made it clear on Monday itself that the incident did not happen at the main Dwarka temple but at Beyt Dwarka. It has been customary in various parts of the country, temples included, that priests ask for Gotra and even caste for performing Puja. Some members of Dwakadish management committee have stated the caste or gotra is not asked for entry into the temple but when priests have to perform Puja broadly for two reasons – it is inherent in Hindu rituals and the Pandas have made a division among themselves as to who would perform Puja for varying gotra and region. Politics and religion often get mixed. This time around it threatened to derail legislative business of Parliament, most importantly on GST. Does it mean Rahul Gandhi has given indication that he is not agreeable to GST and does not endorse the deliberations at PM’s `chai pe charcha’ with Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh?