Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday took a swipe at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Rajya Sabha, criticising her attack on former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during a Constitution debate. Highlighting Sitharaman’s academic background, Kharge remarked that she herself was a graduate of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).“I studied at a municipality school, while she studied at JNU. Her English and Hindi might be excellent, but her deeds are not good,” Kharge quipped.Kharge’s response to Sitharaman came after the Finance Minister blamed Nehru for curbing freedom of speech in 1951 through a Constitutional amendment.Kharge also accused the BJP of disrespecting the Gandhi family and questioned the party’s commitment to constitutional values. “Those who once hated the tricolour, Ashok Chakra, and the Constitution are now giving lessons on it,” he said.Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had criticised former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, accusing him of suppressing freedom of speech. During a debate on the Constitution, Sitharaman highlighted the arrests of poet and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri and actor Balraj Sahni, along with the banning of books, to target the Congress and its legacy.Sitharaman alleged that the first Constitutional amendment in 1951, introduced under Nehru’s leadership, was aimed at curbing free speech. “Majrooh Sultanpuri and Balraj Sahni were jailed in 1949. Sultanpuri recited a poem critical of Nehru at a mill workers’ meeting and was imprisoned after refusing to apologise,” she stated.Continuing her attack on the Gandhi family, the BJP leader accused the Congress of amending the Constitution to serve the interests of “one family.” Her remarks followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sharp criticism of the Congress in the Lok Sabha last week.
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