New Delhi | Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday demanded an apology from Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over her party's Lok Sabha member D K Suresh demanding a separate nation comprising southern states by alleging bias in budgetary allocations.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Parliament, Joshi said Congress member Suresh had demanded a separate nation comprising southern states. The remarks were an insult to the Constitution and its architect Babasaheb Ambedkar, he said.
"I condemn the statement of the Congress member and demand that the matter be referred to the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha," Joshi said.
Members of the opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress and the DMK, were on their feet trying to make some point as Joshi made the statement in the House. They later walked out for a brief while.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla called the opposition members to make their point after laying of parliamentary papers on the table of the House.
"I think they have boycotted the proceedings," the speaker remarked, referring to the empty opposition benches.
As the speaker moved to the next item on the agenda, the opposition members returned to the House. "I had signalled you that you will be allowed to speak after laying of papers. Now, you can make your point in the debate on the President's address," Birla said.
Joshi said the Congress leadership should clarify whether it subscribed to the views of Suresh -- the brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
"The Congress traditions on dividing the country still persists. I demand that Sonia Gandhi take action against the member and also clarify whether the party supports the views of the Congress member," the parliamentary affairs minister said.
Joshi said he also hailed from a southern state as does his colleague External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and "neither of us feel in the manner as the Congress member has claimed".
Congress member Suresh, who represents Bangalore rural in the Lok Sabha, had said that injustice was meted out to the southern states in allocation of share in tax collection, while the tax money is distributed to north India.
"Our tax money is being distributed to north India, if we don't condemn it there might arise a situation where we will have to demand for a separate nation," Suresh said on Thursday while commenting on the the interim budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.