A discussion on the centre’s flood aid for Tamil Nadu escalated into a massive row in Lok Sabha today after DMK leader TR Baalu hit out at a Union minister, calling him “unfit to be an MP or minister”. The BJP retaliated, accusing the DMK MP of insulting a Dalit minister and demanding his apology.

The heated exchange broke out after DMK MPs A Raja and A Ganeshamurthi fielded questions to the Centre on the steps taken to assist Tamil Nadu in rebuilding after the floods. As Mr Baalu was speaking, Union Minister L Murugan, also from Tamil Nadu, intervened and remarked that the DMK members were asking “irrelevant” questions.

Thiru TR Balu is a disgrace to politics & this is not the first time he has made disgraceful remarks about a member of the Scheduled Caste Community. I strongly condemn these remarks on Hon MoS Thiru @Murugan_MoS avl in the Temple of Democracy.

Our Hon PM Thiru @narendramodi… pic.twitter.com/TDt3p39hks

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 6, 2024

Infuriated, Mr Baalu thundered, “He (Murugan) should know some discipline. You are unfit to be a Member of Parliament. You are unfit to be a minister. You don’t have any guts to face us, we will teach you.”

This sparked a strong response from the BJP. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi stood up and questioned how a senior leader like Mr Baalu can call a minister “unfit”. “How can you call him unfit? It is unfair,” Mr Joshi said.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal joined him. “This is not good. How can you call a minister unfit? You should withdraw this remark. You must apologise. He is a Dalit minister. You are insulting Dalits. We will not tolerate this,” he said. Mr Meghwal also said that the DMK MP had used an “unparliamentary” word in the House.

Mr Joshi said, “You have a right to question, but you cannot call our minister unfit. Who are you to do that?”

Noisy arguments broke out as both BJP and DMK members traded barbs at each other and raised slogans. After the uproar died down, Mr Baalu spoke again, only to double down on his charge. “He is unfit to be in politics,” he added, sparking another round of uproar.

DMK MP Raja spoke to news agency ANI on the incident. He said the party members were agitated because the centre’s reply to the questions on flood relief were “evasive and irresponsible”. “TR Baalu wanted to ask some questions but L Murugan stopped him, saying that Tamil Nadu’s demands are not reasonable. So then we said, ‘you are not fit to be an MP from Tamil Nadu since you are against its interests’,” he said.

#WATCH | “…It is not an unparliamentary remark…,” says DMK MP TR Baalu on his “unfit to be in Parliament” remark against MoS & BJP leader L Murugan who interrupted him while speaking in Lok Sabha on demand for flood relief fund for Tamil Nadu. pic.twitter.com/6KBp1a1N73

— ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2024

Mr Baalu told ANI that his question did not concern Mr Murugan’s ministry. “He is from Tamil Nadu. That’s why we said you are a traitor. He spoke against Tamil Nadu’s interests,” he said. Mr Murugan is a Rajya Sabha MP and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. 

The DMK leader added that “unfit” is not an unparliamentary minister. Asked about the BJP’s charge that he had insulted Dalits, DMK MPs protested strongly, with Mr Raja saying, “I am also a Dalit.”

Tamil Nadu BJP chief has slammed Mr Baalu over the remarks, saying that he is a “disgrace to politics” and “this is not the first time he has made disgraceful remarks about a member of the Scheduled Caste Community”.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has responded to the row over a viral video in which he is seen feeding biscuits to a puppy during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Jharkhand. The video showed Mr Gandhi petting a puppy and then feeding it biscuits. At one point, the puppy refuses to eat and Mr Gandhi then gives the biscuits to a supporter speaking to him. The BJP had targeted the Congress leader over the video, alleging that he treats his supporters like dogs.

Mr Gandhi has now said that the man in the video is actually the dog’s owner. “The dog was nervous, shivering and when I tried to feed it, it got scared. So I gave biscuits to the dog’s owner and the dog ate them from his hand. I don’t understand what’s the issue,” he said during a media interaction, a video of which was shared by news agency ANI.

#WATCH | On the viral video of him feeding a dog during the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says, “…I called the dog and the owner. The dog was nervous, shivering and when I tried to feed it, the dog got scared. So I gave biscuits to the dog’s owner and… pic.twitter.com/QhO6QvfyNB

— ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2024

Asked about the BJP’s allegations that claimed that the man in the video was a Congress worker, he replied, “No, he was not a Congress worker. I don’t understand the BJP’s obsession with dogs. How have dogs harmed them?”

Pallavi ji, not only Rahul Gandhi but the entire family could not make me eat that biscuit. I am a proud Assamese and Indian . I refused to eat and resign from the Congress. https://t.co/ywumO3iuBr

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) February 5, 2024

Earlier, several BJP leaders targeted the Congress MP over the viral video. Among them was Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Mr Sarma, who was earlier in the Congress, has often narrated an incident, in which he and other senior Congress leaders had visited Mr Gandhi for a meeting. During the meeting, he says, Mr Gandhi’s pet dog Pidi ate biscuits from a plate. The Congress leaders were then offered biscuits from the same plate, Mr Sarma has claimed in multiple interviews. During these interviews, Mr Sarma has used the alleged incident to bolster his claim that Mr Gandhi is not serious about key party matters. He has also said he left the Congress soon after.

Responding to an ‘X’ user, who had tagged him on the puppy video, Mr Sarma doubled down on his charge. He said “not only Rahul Gandhi but the entire family could not make me eat that biscuit”. “I am a proud Assamese and Indian. I refused to eat and resign from the Congress,” he said.

Another BJP leader, Amit Malviya, said “it is natural for a party to become extinct when its prince behaves treats party workers like dogs”.

Financial allocations to states – whether tax devolution or funds from welfare schemes sponsored by the central government – are based on uniform guidelines that leave no room for discrimination, Finance Secretary TV Somanathan told NDTV Tuesday afternoon in an exclusive interview.

Mr Somanathan’s comments come a day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sparred over allegations non-BJP states are “deprived of (financial) dues.

Mr Somanathan today underlined what the Finance Minister said, explaining, “In the operation of the Finance Ministry as regards funding to states, we go by formulae that have been laid down by the Finance Commission… we have not discriminated, for or against, any state government.”

“I won’t go into the political aspects but I don’t think there is any conscious discrimination.”

He said sharing of tax revenue – distribution of GST has been a contentious issue for years, with Bengal and Punjab among states frequently claiming withholding dues – is based on percentages laid down by the Finance Commission and audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

These, he stressed, could not be changed and funds were distributed as per the guidelines; Ms Sitharaman made the same point yesterday, adding she could not alter them “as per my whims”.

Distribution of funds for schemes sponsored by the centre are also based on fixed percentages – 60-40 in case of “mainstream” states and 90-10 for north-eastern or hill states – Mr Somanathan said.

“We release funds as per percentages… so as long as the previous instalment was spent, the money will be released. So I can clearly say the Finance Ministry does not discriminate. Some states may have grievances over percentages set by the Finance Commission but that I can’t comment on.”

“But we have not deviated from Finance Commission recommendations,” Mr Somanathan said.

On a question about the face-off between Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress and the centre – Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last week held a protest event demanding the state’s “dues” – the Finance Secretary told NDTV the Prime Minister’s Office had stressed that Bengal get its share.

READ | On 48-hour Dharna Over Bengal’s Dues, Mamata Banerjee’s Big 2024 Hint

“… but the state has to meet prescribed guidelines, and there are audit issues to be addressed.”

Mr Somanathan also spoke on various other topics, including the government’s handling of the fiscal deficit, which has been revised to 5.8 per cent for the financial year 2024.

He also spoke about the government continuing to offer food subsidies, which, he stressed, remains a fiscally sustainable proposition, even if it will end up costing the exchequer more than Rs 2 lakh crore.

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