Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Union minister Anurag Thakur invited sharp reactions from the opposition as he took a dig at the ‘Nehru-Gandhi family’ while defending the PM-CARES fund.

Responding to the opposition’s charge that the fund lacks transparency, Thakur referred to the PM National Relief Fund, which, he said, was set up during the tenure of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

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“The PM Cares Fund is a constitutionally set up public charitable trust. PM National Relief Fund was set up only for the benefits of one family — Nehru-Gandhi family,” Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance said triggering an uproar in the House.

The Congress immediately protested against the minister’s statement leading to Speaker Om Birla adjourning the house.

As the exchange between the two sides turned bitter, with the Congress demanding an apology from the minister, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House for half an hour.

“We have never targeted the PM, we have never called him names. Why are they attacking the Gandhis, out of context …bringing in manes of Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, people who are not even alive,” said an agitated Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress’s leader in the Lok Sabha. The party’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha gaurav Gogoi demanded and apology from Thakur.

When the House convened a little after 6 pm, Anurag Thakur expressed ‘anguish’ over his statement.

“I had no intention of hurting anyone but if someone has been hurt, I express my anguish,” Thakur said.