New Delhi, India

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the INDIA bloc got into a political spat on Thursday over Samajwadi Party MP RK Chaudhary's proposal to remove "Sengol" from the Parliament. 

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Chaudhary asked that the Constitution take the place of the Sengol, calling it a symbol of "monarchy" and challenging its continued existence in the Parliament.

Chaudhary said that he was “surprised” seeing the Sengol during his oath-taking in a letter to Om Birla, the speaker of the Lok Sabha. 

He stated that the Constitution is a symbol of democracy, but that the Sengol was put up in Parliament by the PM Modi-led BJP government.

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“The Constitution is the holy book of democracy…Sengol means ‘Raj-Dand’ or ‘Raja ka Danda’...After ending the princely order, the country became independent. Will the country be run by ‘Raja ka danda’ or the Constitution? I demand that Sengol be removed from Parliament to save the Constitution”, the SP leader said. 

“...Our Parliament is the temple of democracy and not the princely palace of some kingdom,” he added.

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The demand by the SP MP led to huge criticism from the ruling BJP and its alliance partners. 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took to X to write, "Samajwadi Party has no respect for Indian history or culture. The remarks of their top leaders on the Sengol are condemnable and indicate their ignorance. It also shows INDI Alliance's hatred to Tamil culture in particular."

Union minister and BJP leader Chirag Paswan questioned the opposition, accusing them of coming to Parliament to engage in "controversial politics." 

“The way such symbols have been tried to be shown in the wrong light for so many decades, today when they are given due respect by our Prime Minister, why are you offended by all these things? Why can’t these opposition leaders think of positive politics?” Paswan said.

Shehzad Poonwalla, the spokesperson for the BJP, took aim at the SP, saying, "The Samajwadi Party earlier attacked and abused Ramcharitmanas and now Sengol." 

He added that it is a feature of Indian culture, especially Tamil culture, and he questioned the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the INDIA bloc's partner, about their support for such an insult.

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He questioned why Jawaharlal Nehru, the former prime minister, had first embraced the Sengol.

However, Chief of the Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav defended Chaudhary's comments by saying, “When Sengol was installed, the Prime Minister had bowed to it. But he forgot to bow while taking the oath this time. I think our MP wanted to remind the Prime Minister about it.”

Congress MP Manickam Tagore also backed Chaudhary's petition and claimed that the government caused drama by placing Sengol during the inauguration of the new Parliament.

Misa Bharti, a Rashtriya Janata Dal MP, stated, “It should be removed because it is a democratic country. The Sengol should be kept in the museum where people can come and see...”

During the opening of the new Parliament building in May of last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the "Sengol" sceptre in the Lok Sabha chamber next to the Speaker's chair. 

Spiritual leaders from Tamil Nadu presented Modi with this precious relic, which was initially given to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on August 14, 1947. Modi chose Sengol as the national symbol of the 'Amrit Kaal.'

(With inputs from agencies)