Cong, TMC stage LS walk out during Rajnath's 'intolerance' rebuttal

The Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Left on Tuesday staged a walk out from the Lok Sabha following Home Minister Rajnath Singh's rebuttal on intolerance, where he defended the government and asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were the biggest victims of intolerance.

"At least tolerate is the mandate of the people. The biggest victim of intolerance has been Prime Minister Modi himself. Intolerance has been displayed only thrice. In partition, during emergency and during the 1984 riots," Rajnath said.

Defending the government over the Dadri lynching case, he added that the Centre had sought an immediate report from the Uttar Pradesh government and had done everything in their power to get to the bottom of the case. He said that the reply from the Uttar Pradesh Government was that it was not a communally-motivated incident.

However, he assured that anyone trying to disturb the social fabric of the country will not be spared, and added that the Centre was intolerant towards elements hurting the nation.

"Yes, we are intolerant. We are intolerant towards corruption, unclean surroundings, terrorism, violence against women and such issues," Rajnath said.

Reacting to the walk out staged by the opposition, the Home Minister said that they should have sat through the session and heard the government's side.

"I countered all their points and replied to their questions. If I can sit through five to six hours and listen to their version, the Congress could have at least heard us for half-an-hour," he told the reporters here after emerging from the parliament.

Earlier, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi lashed out at Prime Minister Modi saying he chose to remain silent over the killings of rationalist thinkers and the writers' protests over 'intolerance'.