'Sonia Gandhi Ne Sitaram Kesari Ki Dhoti Khol Kar Adhiyakash Bani': Nishikant Dubey Takes Potshot At UPA Chairperson In LS

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing fiery debate in the Lok Sabha on the Women’s Reservation and delimitation Bills, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey hit out at the Congress party, saying April 17 was the day in 1987 when Rajiv Gandhi faced the Bofors allegations for the first time. "April 17 was also the day when Sonia Gandhi became Congress chief after pulling Sitaram Kesri's dhoti."

"Jis OBC ki ye baat kar rahe hai, Sitaram Kesri ka dhoti khol kar Sonia Gandhi ji, Congress ki adhiyaksh ho gayi." This roughly translates to: “The OBC they are talking about, Sonia Gandhi became Congress president after pulling off Sitaram Kesri’s dhoti.”

Dubey was referring to the March 14, 1998 incident when Sitaram Kesri was replaced by Sonia Gandhi and the former was reportedly angry over the decision. Some reports claim that Kesri was locked inside a bathroom for hours until Sonia Gandhi took over the party. Reports also claim that later in the day, when Kesri was leaving, some Youth Congress workers heckled him and even tried to pull his dhoti, according to India Today.

Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju met Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the crucial voting on three key bills in the Lok Sabha. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to give a formal reply to the ongoing debate at around 5 pm. Voting on the bills is likely to take place after HM Shah's reply in the House. 

Requirement for passing of Bills

The NDA needs a two-thirds majority in Parliament for the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill and the Constitutional Amendment Bill. The NDA has 292 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 139 in the Rajya Sabha.

With an effective strength of 541 in the Lok Sabha, the two-thirds mark stands at 360. The ruling NDA has 293 members and falls short by 67 seats. The magic number for the Rajya Sabha is 163 and the NDA's strength of 142-plus members leaves it 21 seats short of majority mark, reported NDTV.