New Delhi

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday saw sharp exchanges after AITC MP Dola Sen objected to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ November 25 advisory directing all states to rename Raj Bhavans as Lok Bhavans, triggering a heated argument over whether remarks made during Zero Hour should be expunged.

Raising the issue, Sen claimed that the directive had been issued without consulting key constitutional bodies. “First of all, we would like to say that neither the Parliament, Assembly nor the Cabinet is aware of this… They are not even discussing it with you, sir,” she said.

However, the situation escalated when Sen moved beyond the renaming issue and spoke about MGNREGA and related matters. The Chair immediately intervened, saying that deviations would not be part of the official record.

Leader of the House J. P. Nadda took strong objection to the divergence. “You permitted her to speak during Zero Hour about the change of name from Raj Bhavan to Lok Bhavan. She spoke about MGNREGA and other issues. I would like to be very clear that because it does not relate to the subject, it should be deleted and it should not be brought on record and only issues related to Lok Bhavan should be admitted,” he said.

Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan agreed and reiterated that only comments related to the notified subject would remain on record.

Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge countered the demand, defending Sen. He argued that she had not used any unparliamentary expression and insisted that her point was “connected with the subject”. Kharge also accused the government of curbing debate. “The Leader of the House is bulldozing. You don’t want to run according to parliamentary democracy,” he said.

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Maintaining that the proceedings were in order, the Chair urged MPs to adhere to listed subjects during Zero Hour. Responding to the criticism, Nadda asserted, “I never bulldozed,” and said his request was only to ensure that comments remained relevant to the subject under discussion.