Sengol or Constitution? Opposition challenges Centre on Parliament's centerpiece

The Sengol placed in the Parliament has once again become a point of friction between BJP leaders and the Opposition. 

An MP from the Samajwadi Party demanded that India's Constitution should be kept next in place of the golden sceptre, which he described as an "anachronistic symbol of monarchy." 

SP MP RK Chaudhary shot off a letter to Speaker Om Birla seeking to replace the 5-feet long sceptre. 

"The Constitution is the symbol of democracy. In its previous tenure, the BJP govt under the leadership of PM Modi installed 'Sengol' in Parliament. 'Sengol' means 'Raj-Dand'. It also means '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 demand was also backed by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

“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.”

The BJP sharply hit back at Chaudhary, saying that the opposition parties are bent on insulting the Indian culture. 

"The Samajwadi Party has opposed Sengol in Parliament. It says that it is 'Raja ka Dand', if it was 'Raja ka Dand', why did Jawaharlal Nehru accept the Sengol? This shows the mindset of the Samajwadi Party. First, they attack and abuse Ramcharitmanas, now Sengol, which is part of Indian and Tamil culture,"  BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla told ANI news agency. 

"Does DMK support this kind of insult of Sengol, they must clarify. The question is that the mindset to reduce Sengol to a walking stick for decades has once again come in the form of Samajwadi Party. They do not respect Indian culture, they do not respect Tamil culture, and therefore they are again insulting Sengol. The DMK must take a stand on this," Poonawalla added.