PM apologises for remarks by a Cong member against Vajpayee

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday apologised to the Lok Sabha on behalf of the government for certain “undesirable” remarks by a Congress member against former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.   

“Yesterday I was not present in the House. I have heard some undesirable remarks were made by a member of the ruling coalition which was inappropriate.

   

“On behalf of our government, I apologise to the House,” Dr Singh, who returned last night after a three-day visit to Russia, said.

   

BJP and allies had on Tuesday created pandemonium in the House after Beni Prasad Verma (Congress) used demeaning remarks against Vajpayee forcing two adjournments.

 

The NDA members were agitated when Verma used a derogatory word against the former Prime Minister during a debate on the Liberhan Commission report and demanded an apology from him.

        

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the report of Ranganath Misra Committee, which went into the issue of reservation for minorities, will be placed in Parliament during this session. 

“We will place the report on the table of the House in this session,” Dr Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

 

His assurance came after Samajwadi Party members led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and others demanded that the report be tabled immediately.

    

The Prime Minister said, “I take note of this matter and we will place the report on the table of the House.”

 

Opposition members had raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday demanding that the government make public the report which, they said, was freely available under the RTI Act.

    

The Ranganath Committee is understood to have recommended reservation for minorities in employment, higher education and economic and developmental schemes funded by the government.