Tharoor’s attack on BJP sparks ruckus in Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha yesterday witnessed a ruckus when senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor held the ruling party responsible for the attack on his office in Kerala and issuing death threats.

Ground rules of democracy are being betrayed by the BJP party and its supporters, he said.

Though he named the party in context of the attack on his office in Thiruvananthapuram, the chair later expunged the references to the two parties that came up during the exchanges.

Tharoor later told the media outside Parliament that the BJP was responsible for the attack. “Those who attacked my office should apologise. I am not withdrawing anything. If you make India for one religion, that can probably break the country. When everyone is able to live together, how will that break the country,” he added.

Earlier, in the house, he appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence over the behaviour of his partymen and take action against “antinational elements”.

“I raise before this house the attack on my constituency office in Thiruvananthapuram and the death threats I have received from members of the ruling party in response to my criticism of the far-right extremism,” Tharoor said during the Zero Hour.

“This is not just an attack on constitutionally sanctioned MP’s office but a larger attempt by incendiary elements to destroy the idea of India as a pluralistic and accepting democracy,” he added.

This led to a ruckus, with Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers raising slogans and demanding expunging of certain words in his comments.