Rajnath Singh "doing politics" over terror attacks: Congress

New Delhi, Jul 31: Hitting back at Home Minister Rajnath Singh after he accused the erstwhile UPA dispensation of weakening the fight against terrorism, Congress today charged him with dividing Parliament by making a political speech on terror, against which "the entire country is one".

Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of "doing politics" over terrorism and asserted that his party will not tolerate it.

He urged Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai to expunge Singh's comments which he had made after his statement on the Gurudaspur terror attack.

The demand was turned down by the Chair. Kharge was supported by Saugata Roy (TMC) who wondered why Singh "went into a rampaging speech" after the entire House listened to him in rapt atention on the terror strike.

"We all welcomed, clapped (Singh's statement)... because the country is one and there is no compromise on terrorism and unity and integrity of the country," Kharge said, refuting Singh's charge that the Congress was making it appear that Parliament was divided on terrorism.

He then went on to attack Singh over his suo motu comments.

"Just to divide this House and to blame the Congress, he said what China did... Was it necessary? He did it just to defame the previous governments. This is not a political statement. You are doing politics. We won't tolerate that. It should be expunged."

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the Home Minister only went into details of the matter and pointed out the "flawed policies in the past".

Singh was not present in the Lok Sabha when Kharge spoke after the House met in the afternoon.

Turning down the opposition demand that Singh's remarks made after his statement on Gurdaspur terror attack be expunged, the Deputy Speaker said the Speaker had presided over the House when Singh had spoken and later cited past precedents to make his point.

Rudy said the government was ready for a discussion on terrorism and the opposition should follow the due process to initiate a debate.

PTI