Rajya Sabha adjourned till March 17 amidst uproar over NEP issue
Mar 12, 2025

New Delhi [India], March 12 : The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till Monday and will meet again at 11:00 AM on March 17 after the break for Holi.
Earlier on Tuesday, there had been a massive uproar in the upper house of the Parliament over LoP (Rajya Sabha) and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's 'thokenge' remark.
Kharge's statement came while he was speaking about Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after his remark against the Tamil Nadu government about the issue of the three-language policy. "...I request you (Deputy Chairman) with folded hands to allow me (to speak)...'aapko kya kya thokna hai thik se thokenge, sarkar ko bhi thokenge'....", he said in the Upper House of the Parliament on Tuesday.
BJP strongly opposed Kharge's statement and stated that it was disrespectful to the chair. Union Health Minister JP Nadda said that the Congress president should apologise for his statement, and his words should be expunged from the footage of the Parliament proceedings.
"The language used by him and the attack on the Chair is condemnable. He should condemn it and apologize for using this language for the Chair. He should take back his words or it should be expunged," Nadda said.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh also expressed dissatisfaction over Kharge's remark, noting his seniority in the House. Kharge immediately apologised for his remark, clarifying that his remark was not aimed at the chair but towards the government and its policy.
"I apologize to you (Deputy Chairman), I have not used these words for you. I have said that 'hum sarkar ki policies ko thokenge'. I apologise to you and not to the government..." Kharge said.
Other than the outrage over Mallikarjun Kharge's 'thokenge' remark, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan once again cleared the government's stance on the National Education Policy and replied to DMK's allegations of imposing the Hindi language onto the state.
Pradhan lashed out at the opposition for claiming that the government wants to divide society while using languages and said that the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will never use language to do such "sin."
"There are certain things going on, let me first clarify in my Odia society Lord Jagganath is everybody. The king of Puri is not a king but a philosopher kind of person. He is the living deity to everyone. My king married to the Queen of Kanchi. My mother is from Tamil Nadu. I am the son of a Tamil Nadu lady. Another House yesterday, In my society mother and sisters are above everything. If I hurt anybody if any of my words, I beg an apology. PM Modi has always mentioned the Tamil language is an ancient language. The Tamil language is nobody's monopoly. We are committed to the Tamil language. Truth is always painful," Pradhan said in the Rajya Sabha.