Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey alleged that Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra called him a 'Bihari Gunda' amid a parliamentary panel meet on Thursday, 29 July.
Charging at Moitra, Dubey said that he had not experienced anything like this in his life.
Mahua Moitra denied the allegation, and expressed that she is accused of name-calling at a meeting that never took place.
Shouting over Opposition leaders, Dubey stated, "I want to draw attention of all members of this House. This is my 13th year as an MP and the way I was called ''Bihari Gunda'' at the parliamentary committee meeting yesterday by a woman, by Trinamool Congress, I have not seen this in my life," PTI quoted.
The allegation came as Lok Sabha witnessed Opposition protest over several subjects, including the Pegasus reports, and consequently snowballed into a quarrel over regional identities.
Dubey took his complaint to speaker Om Birla, saying that TMC has attacked 'Bihar's pride' and urged Moitra to apologise.
"What is our fault? Our fault is to develop this country. We have worked as labourers, as Hindi-speaking people, whether from Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh... We have learnt lessons from Lord Ram," Dubey added, PTI reported.
The MP also posted a tweet and wrote, "The way your MP abused me using the words Bihar goonda, your party's hatred towards north Indians and Hindi-speaking people has been exposed before the country."
To this, Moitra responded by saying,
Reacting to the row, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav expressed, "It is saddening if someone has said such a thing. One must refrain from making such comments," NDTV reported.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting on Information and Technology was set to question government officials over reports of the Israeli spyware Pegasus on Wednesday, 28 July.
However, the meeting was postponed owing to insufficient quorum.
(With inputs from PTI and NDTV)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)