Harsh Vardhan, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury spar in Lok Sabha during debate on bill to ban e-cigarettes

Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sparred in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday during a debate on a bill to ban e-cigarettes with the former saying he expects more dignified behaviour from Chowdhury and the latter accusing the minister of misleading the House.

Chowdhury spoke after the minister's reply. Harsh Vardhan said the Congress member had repeated the points he made on Tuesday.

As Chowdhury sought to intervene, Harsh Vardhan said he was not yielding.

"This is not the way you should behave. We expect much more dignified behaviour from you. You are a senior member. When you speak, I do not stand. We expect more dignified behaviour from you. Please do not misbehave like this. When you were speaking, did I stand? Did anybody stand? Okay, you keep on speaking... You have to be more dignified than what you pose yourself to be. I am sorry to say this, Sir. I feel sorry," Harsh Vardhan said.

He asked Chowdhury to state what Congress-led governments had done in over 50 years of their rule to curb tobacco use.

Chowdhury said he had never made any allegation against the minister.

"I am not yielding. You are doing the same thing. You are intervening unnecessarily. It is your unceremonious intervention upon my territory also," he said.

Speaker Om Birla intervened and said the members were running the House themselves and asked if he should run the House.

With the minister again asking what Congress governments had done to curb tobacco use, Chowdhury said the first legislation regarding tobacco in India was the Cigarettes (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act of 1975. He also mentioned some other legislations.