NEW DELHI: Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal strongly criticised the Congress party on Saturday, stating that if former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh had belonged to the Nehru-Gandhi family, the Congress-led UPA government would have honored him with the Bharat Ratna.
During his speech in the ongoing budget session of Parliament, Goyal said: “Congress should have been celebrating today that their former PM has been awarded by the Modi government.But unfortunately, he did not have Nehru-Gandhi in his surname. If he belonged to the first family, it would have worked.”

Expressed pride in PM Narendra Modi’s decision to bestow the Bharat Ratna upon Charan Singh, Goyal urged the leader of the opposition to apologise to the country for “insulting” Chaudhary Charan Singh.

Reacting to the criticism, LoP Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress “salutes all those people who have worked for the country irrespective of political parties, caste, and creed”.

Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar also reprimanded the opposition, and said: “You virtually insulted Chaudhary Charan Singh, you insulted his legacy. You had no time for Bharat Ratna Chaudhary Charan Singh. You are hurting every farmer in the country by creating such an environment inside the House on the issue of Chaudhary Charan Singh. Our heads should bow in shame.”

“I will not tolerate insult to Chaudhary Charan Singh. He stands for impeccable public life, unimpeachable integrity, and commitment to farmers … I have seen with my eyes, ruckus, chaos, condemnation, shouting, and sloganeering,” he added.
On Friday, PM Modi had announced that former PMs Chaudhary Charan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao, along with MS Swaminathan, also known as the father of the green revolution, will be honored with the Bharat Ratna.
(With inputs from agencies)