"Tum nalayak ho...": Renuka Chowdhury hits back at Kiren Rijiju amid SIR row in Parliament

New Delhi [India], December 2 : Congress Rajya Sabha MP Renuka Chowdhury on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, calling him "nalayak" (useless), after the latter criticised the Opposition for obstructing Parliamentary proceedings over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
Speaking to ANI outside Parliament, Chowdhury accused the Central government of failing to run the House effectively.
She said, "Arey tum nalayak ho toh hum kya karein, tumko chalana aata nahi hai to hum kya karein? Hum mudda bhi na uthayein? (You're useless. If they don't know how to run the House, then what can we do?) Do they want us to do yes, sir and no, sir? This will not work. We are MPs, and it is our duty to raise people's voices."
Her scathing attack came after Rijiju emphasised that while every concern holds significance, using them to block Parliament proceedings is "not right."
"All issues are important in their own place, but if you use these issues as a weapon to stall the Parliament, it is not right... We will hold talks with opposition leaders. I am in touch with them already... We are not belittling their issues, but there are many issues in the country, not just one," the Union Minister said.
On the second day of the Winter Session, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm amid protests by the Opposition MPs over the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll. Speaker Om Birla summoned opposition floor leaders and ministers for a meeting to resolve the disruptions and restore order in the House.
Meanwhile, Renuka Chowdhury slammed the Centre over mandating the pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi App in mobile phones, calling it a threat to national security.
She said, "They brought in Pegasus and have been unable to keep it under control. MPs and MLAs all say that their phones are being tapped. For the last 11 years, basic rights of the Indians have been taken away. This is the real threat to national security."
Chowdhury had also filed an adjournment motion on the Sanchar Saathi App in the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also called the Sanchar Saathi App a snooping App.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "It is a snooping app. It's ridiculous. Citizens have the right to privacy. Everyone must have the right to privacy to send messages to family and friends without the government looking at everything. They are turning this country into a dictatorship in every form. The parliament is not functioning because the government is refusing to talk about anything. It's very easy to blame the Opposition. They are not allowing any discussion on anything. A healthy democracy demands discussion. There's a very fine line between reporting fraud and seeing what every citizen of India is doing on their phone. That's not how it should work."
The DoT has instructed manufacturers and importers to pre-install the app in the mobile handsets and ensure the app is visible and accessible at first use, and cannot be disabled. For devices already on the market, companies have been asked to push the app via software updates.
According to the Ministry of Telecommunication, the directions issued on November 28 aim to safeguard citizens from purchasing non-genuine handsets, enable easy reporting of suspected telecom misuse, and improve the effectiveness of the Sanchar Saathi initiative.