Sack Hegde din over ‘drop secular’ remark

Parliament witnessed much ruckus on Wednesday as the Opposition sought removal of Minister of State for Skill Development Anant Kumar Hegde (49) from the Union Ministry for his comments at a public meeting that the government would soon amend the Constitution to remove the word "secular" from its preamble.

The pandemonium constrained the government to distance itself from the remarks inside and outside the House. "The Government does not subscribe to views expressed by Hegde," union minister Vijay Goel told the Rajya Sabha. Outside parliament,

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "The government has already said it is not on the same page with Hedge. Only five days are left now in the session. I hope Opposition will come on board now."

However, Hegde did not clarify his comments at all and the Opposition was adamant that it wants the minister’s resignation. (Hegde, a hardcore RSS man, is 5-time MP from Uttara Kannada in Karnataka.)

Result: The Rajya Sabha was repeatedly adjourned in the first half as the opposition member trooped into the well after Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded Hegde's resignation, saying one who has no faith in the Constitution has no right to be a minister or even an MP. In the Lok Sabha, Congress members protested in the well all day amid repeated adjournments with Mallikarjun Kharge slamming Hegde for ridiculing those who claim to be ‘secular’. Kharge said Hegde had gone to the extent of claiming that the ‘seculars’ do not know their mother or father or whose blood runs in their veins, and angrily asked: "Are they then bastards?"