The row over Union Minister V K Singh's "dog" remarks could generate more heat in Parliament next week with the Congress today stepping up attack on him demanding that he be "removed" from government and alleging that he was not fit to be an MP.
"This government has not been able to control V K Singh as also the Culture Minister. Singh has repeatedly made improper statements. Government should ask him to go," party spokesperson Sushmita Dev told reporters.
She said that the opposition parties were asking for apology from the Minister for his dog analogy in the wake of burning to death of two Dalit children in Haryana, "but the government has remained adamant".
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Rajya Sabha witnessed two adjournments on the demand for his resignation with Congress and BSP members targeting the Minister.
Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad went to the extent of saying that Singh should also be removed from Parliament.
"Such a minister, I feel, should not be a member of the Union Cabinet for even a minute and he should neither be a member of Parliament. I request the government to not just remove V K Singh from the Cabinet but also from Parliament," he said.
Reports had it that Congress had decided to boycott the Union minister in both Houses of Parliament for his remark, but party leaders said that a more aggressive strategy could be on the anvil next week.
Government has been insisting that Singh had not made any such comment about Dalits and there is no reason for the Opposition to raise the issue repeatedly.
Hitting back, V K Singh today questioned the conduct of Opposition members in Rajya Sabha, saying they were indulging in "petty political oneupmanship" and
"cheap political wranglings".
"Even in wild imagination my 'dog analogy for government not being responsible for every incident' being taken as a remark against any human is a travesty of intelligence," the Minister of State for External Affairs said in a Facebook post.
