Kurien goes easy on Kottayam heckling issue

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien on Wednesday said he will not file any complaint over an incident on February 27 at Kottayam in Kerala where he was reportedly gheraoed and shown black flags.

The flags were reportedly shown to Kurien by BJP's Yuva Morcha reportedly for allegedly cutting short HRD Minister Smriti Irani's speech in the house.

"It was not an attack (on me). It happened due to some misunderstanding," he told the upper house when some members expressed concern over the incident saying.

As the members raised concern over it, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stood up and said he came to know about the incident through media reports and would certainly take the required action.

"I read about it in the newspapers. Some of our colleagues have also told me about it. I condemn it and will look into the issue," Naqvi told the house.

Kurien, who seemed satisfied over the minister's statement on the issue, said that had there been anything serious, he would have filed a complaint with the Kerala government then and there but he did not as it happened "due to misunderstanding".

The Rajya Sabha deputy chairman also said that since Naqvi has condemned it, there was nothing more left to do about it.