Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar slammed Rahul Gandhi over comments in the UK
Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar in a swipe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has asked if "there is a medicine to restore the dignity of parliament".
At an event on ayurveda in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, Mr Dhankhar said the allegation that "certain microphones have been switched off in parliament" was simply false.
"Some people have set a narrative that microphones are switched off in the parliament of the world's largest democracy. Nothing can be more untrue than this," Mr Dhankhar said today, without naming Mr Gandhi.
The Congress leader at an event in London organised by Indian-origin Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma on Monday had used a faulty microphone in the House of Commons to make his point about what he described as a "stifling" opposition debate in India.
"Our mikes are not out of order, they are functioning, but you still can't switch them on. That's happened to me a number of times while I am speaking," Mr Gandhi told the gathering in response to a question about sharing his experience of being a politician in India.
Several BJP leaders have criticised Mr Gandhi for showing India in a bad light abroad. The Vice President, too, on Thursday had slammed the Congress MP over what he called "thoughtless, unfair denigration of our well-nurtured democratic values."
Continuing his attack on Mr Gandhi today, the Vice President said people look at him with respect when he goes abroad, which shows the strength of India today, but some people continue to defame India when they are on foreign lands.
"Being the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, I want to say something - that you should prepare such a medicine so that the dignity of parliament is restored," the Vice President asked Patanjali Managing Director Balakrishna, who is also the aide of yoga guru Ramdev, at the event on ayurveda.
"... Lok Sabha is a huge panchayat where mics have never been turned off. Someone goes out and says mics are turned off in this nation... Yes, there was a time during the Emergency when mics were turned off," he said.
"The conduct in parliament and legislative assemblies should be exemplary. There should not be any disturbances there," Mr Dhankhar said.