By IANS,
New Delhi : Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Sharad Yadav Saturday cautioned the associates of fasting social activist Anna Hazare to be restrained in their use of words and said mocking political leaders can invite verbal retribution.
Participating in the debate on the Lokpal bill in the Lok Sabha, Yadav took exception to remarks of Kiran Bedi and Om Puri during their speeches in Ramlila Maidan Friday.
Without naming Bedi or Puri, Yadav said they had made objectionable comments against politicians.
Referring to Bedi, who covered her face with a towel and compared MPs to newly-wed women, Yadav wondered if she would teach them politics.
“We have been on the roads all our life. What will you teach us… parliament has passed several bills against corruption,” he said.
Cautioning Hazare’s associates against mocking political leaders, he said that political class was more than capable of paying back in the same coin.
“You keep your language civil. We will keep ours,” he said.
He also took a dig at the presence of the chattering classes at the Ramlila ground where Hazare is holding his fast for a strong Lokpal bill.
“They were eating gol-gappas, roaming with their dogs at India Gate. They then decided let us go to Ramlila Maidan,” he said.
He said there were people who flocked to each and every site of protest. “They are permanent revolutionaries,” he said, evoking smiles in the house.
Yadav, whose remarks drew applause from members, said that laws passed by Parliament had only sent Pune businessman Hasan Ali and former union minister A. Raja to jail.
He said that while the Lok Sabha had witnessed some unsavoury episodes during trust votes, it had also seen the then Atal Behari Vajpayee government losing a vote of confidence by one vote.
The JD-U leader said there were several people in Parliament who had risen through struggle but there were a few whose fathers had been leaders.
“The country is being run by parliament… People here know what is agricultural land, what is people’s pain, their compulsion… You are giving us lessons when you sit in the comfort of air conditioners,” he said.