‘Sushmita Dev called me lungi wala’: CPM’s John Brittas on BJP MP; uproar in Rajya Sabha over alleged remark

Joh
B ittas
a d
Sushmita
Dev

NEW
DELHI:

CPM
MP
Joh
B ittas
o
Wed esday
alleged
that

BJP
MP
Sushmita
Dev
used
a
“de ogato y”
ema k
agai st
him,
accusi g
the
fo me
TMC
a d
Co g ess
leade
of
calli g
him
a
“lu gi
wala.”The
issue
was
aised
i
the
Rajya
Sabha,
whe e
both
leade s
a e
MPs,
t igge i g
a
up oa
a d
p ompti g
the
House
to
adjou
till
2pm.“The
othe
day,
while
I
was
speaki g
i
the
House,
she
made
a
de ogato y
ema k,
‘lu gi
wala’,
agai st
me.
I
was
wea i g
a
dhoti,
a d
I
am
p oud
to
be
a
Malayali,
p oud
to
be
a
South
I dia ,”
B ittas
told
ANI.

The
Rajya
Sabha
membe
added
that
while
he
was
p oud
of
his
cultu e,
such
ema ks
amou ted
to
“ste eotypes”
a d
we e
made
i
a
“de ogato y”
ma e .”This
is
ot
acceptable.
A d
I
feel
that
the
house
should
take
a
view
o
this
that
we
have
moved
a
p ivileged
otice
agai st
he .
I
have
othi g
agai st
he ,
of
cou se,”
he
added.I
espo se,
BJP
membe s
dema ded
that
Sushmita
Dev
be
give
a
oppo tu ity
to
p ese t
he
side.Respo di g
to
the
allegatio s,
Leade
of
the
House
a d
U io
mi iste
JP
Nadda
mai tai ed
that
B ittas’
ema ks
we e
ow
o
eco d
a d
Dev
should
also
be
give
a
oppo tu ity
to
speak.

He
added,
“We
do
ot
subsc ibe
to
such
stateme ts.
We
do
ot
call
it
lu gi;
we
call
it
dhoti.”U io
mi iste
Ki e
Rijiju
echoed
the
call
fo
mai tai i g
the
dig ity
of
the
House.“Eve y
membe
is
equal
i
the
House,
a d
if
the e
is
a ythi g
u becomi g
of
the
dig ity
of
the
House,
the
Chai ma
may
call
the
membe s
to
his
Chambe
a d
hea
them
out,”
Rijiju
ema ked,
addi g
that
si ce
the
allegatio s
we e
di ected
at
a
specific
membe ,
Dev
should
also
be
hea d.Taki g
ote
of
the
excha ge,
Rajya
Sabha
Chai ma
CP
Radhak ish a
u ged
membe s
to
mai tai
deco um
a d
espect
egio al
se sibilities.“Ho ‘ble
Membe s,
ce tai
i sta ces
have
come
to
my
otice
ega di g
discou teous
a d
u dig ified
comme ts
bei g
made
by
Membe s
i te upti g
the
speech
of
othe
Membe s
i
the
House.
I
would
advise
that
Ho ‘ble
Membe s
should
be
ca eful
ot
to
hu t
the
se time ts
a d
feeli gs
of
fellow
Membe s,”
he
obse ved.

Emphasisi g
the
i clusive
atu e
of
I dia
society,
the
Chai ma
added,
“Ou
cultu e
is
u ique
a d
i clusive
of
dive se
egio al
cultu es.
The e
should
be
o
dis espect
to
the
cultu al
t aditio s
a d
egio al
ide tities
of
ou
colleagues.”Radhak ish a
subseque tly
called
the
co ce ed
membe s
to
his
chambe
to
esolve
the
matte
a d
e su e
the
smooth
fu ctio i g
of
the
House.

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