"It's responsibility of PM, RS chairman to respect Kharge as he is on Constitutional post": Sharad Pawar

"He (Mallikarjun Kharge) is on a constitutional post. Be it the PM or the Chairman of the House, it's their responsibility to respect him, but today it was all ignored and hence the entire opposition is with him, and hence we walked out," Pawar told reporters.

Congress-led Opposition staged a walkout from Rajya Sabha as the Prime Minister was saying some "wrong things" during his reply to the 'Motion of Thanks' in the Upper House, Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge said.

Addressing reporters immediately after the walkout, Kharge lashed out against the Prime Minister. "It's his habit to lie, mislead people and say things beyond truth. I have just asked him that, when he was speaking about the Constitution, you didn't make the Constitution, you people were against it," Kharge said.

He further said, "I just wanted to clarify who was for the Constitution and who was against it. RSS wrote in their editorial in 1950 that the bad thing about the Constitution is that there is nothing about India's history. They opposed the Constitution. They are against it since the beginning and they say that they are for it. Effigies of Ambedkar, Nehru were burnt. Now they are saying that we are against it."

Those who walked out with Kharge during the PM's reply on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address included Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Prime Minister Modi speaking in the Rajya Sabha in an indirect reference to Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had "shielded" someone who should have borne the brunt of the party's poor performance in the recent general elections.

PM Modi alleged that the Gandhi family pushes forward other leaders, usually a Dalit or an OBC, to take the blame whenever the party does poorly so that the "family" remains safe.

"With these election results, not only a jump in the capital market is being seen but there is also an atmosphere of joy across the world...Amid this, Congress people are also happy. I can't understand the reason for this joy...Is this joy for the hattrick of loss? Is this joy for falling to nervous 90? Is this joy for another failed launch?" PM said.

The Prime Minister was replying to the debate on 'motion of thanks' on the President's address in the Rajya Sabha.

"I saw even Kharge ji to be full of energy. But perhaps Kharge ji served his party a lot because he shielded someone who should have borne the brunt of the Congress's loss in the Lok Sabha polls, he stood like a wall instead..." the Prime Minister said. (ANI)