NEW DELHI: A war of words broke out between opposition and treasury benches on the first sitting of the Rajya Sabha in the new Parliament building soon after leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge made remarks of how all political parties have the "habit" of picking "weak" women candidates from SC/ STs and backward castes even as he raised the pitch on quota within quota for OBC women, saying it will be an injustice to them if they remain unrepresented.
Kharge also alleged that non-BJP-ruled states have not received GST payments in time, a claim rebutted strongly by FM Nirmala Sitharaman who said that no GST payment to any state is pending.
The treasury benches also took strong objection to Kharge's observations on choice of women candidates for SC/ST seats with Sitharaman charging the Congress president of making "sweeping statements".
Earlier while supporting the government's move to bring the women's reservation bill, Kharge alleged that the Modi government doesn't give Congress the credit, though the bill was passed in 2010 by the Rajya Sabha.
When the treasury benches started to protest, Kharge said, "I have an idea how backward, SC people are chosen by parties.
They gave tickets in a manner that they will never open their mouths.
I am talking about all parties.
That's why women are left behind."Sitharaman said the opposition leader cannot insult people like this and can't generalise by speaking about all parties.
To this, Kharge, said, "Women belonging to backward classes, SC do not get the kind of opportunities she (Sitharaman) gets."The FM said the proposal for reservation is for all women and Kharge could not draw a difference between women.