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Indian parliament adjourned over Modi's "raincoat" dig at predecessor

Xinhua, February 9, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Indian parliament was adjourned Thursday following uproar by the country's main opposition Congress party over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "raincoat" dig at his predecessor Manmohan Singh.

Referring to the corruption scandals that emerged during the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government's rule, Modi Wednesday said in Parliament that "there is not a single black mark against him (Manmohan Singh) despite all the corruption. Only Doctor Saab (Singh) knows how to bathe with a raincoat in the bathroom."

As soon as the parliament resumed this morning, Congress members raised the issue and demanded an apology from Modi. "The Prime Minister must apologize for his remark on former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Anand Sharma, Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha (Upper House), said.

Soon, both the houses -- the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha (Lower House) -- had to be adjourned by the Deputy Chairman and Speaker respectively as Congress members created uproar over the issue.

The Congress lawmakers Wednesday staged a walkout in the parliament after Modi made the remarks and said that they would boycott the ongoing Budget Session if the prime minister did not apologize for his barb.

India's Nehru-Gandhi scion and Congress party's second-in-command Rahul Gandhi has called Modi's comment "saddening and shameful."

"When a Prime Minister reduces himself to ridiculing his predecessor, years his senior, he hurts the dignity of the Parliament and the nation... He demeans his position and himself more than anyone else," he tweeted Wednesday.

However, Indian Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu Thursday rejected the Congress party's demand and instead sought an apology from the opposition party.

"It is the Congress that should tender an unconditional apology for not respecting the prime minister and the parliament," he said.

The Budget Session of parliament began last week and will continue till mid-April. Endit