Sengol, a symbol of transfer of power from the British that has been installed in Parliament, was at the centre of a BJP-Congress verbal duel in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday as the Congress claimed that an untrue story was told about its significance and the government countered it.

The opposition parties, mainly Congress members, objected to the mention of Sengol by Union Minister Bhupender Yadav during a discussion on the "Glorious Journey of 75 Years of The Constitution of India" in the Upper House.

Yadav said that when the Sengol was given during the transfer of power at the time of independence, it was treated as a "walking stick" of Jawaharlal Nehru instead of a symbol of justice.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, however, objected to the remarks, saying that it was not given to anyone. Yadav then said that the Congress member has not spoken on where the Sengol was kept for the past 75 years.

Rajiv Shukla, who was presiding the House, allowed Ramesh to speak.

Ramesh said that the ruling party has spread a story about the Sengol and "this is not history".

"It was not handed over formally to someone. Some people came and gave Sengol in a celebration and they have created a history out of it," he said.

Making an intervention, Leader of the House J P Nadda said that Lord Mountbatten had asked Nehru about the process or ritual or tradition of handing over power in India when the country was getting independence. But Nehru stated that he was not aware of any such tradition or ritual.

Nadda mentioned that C Rajagopalachari informed about the tradition of transfer of power through Sengol as was prevalent in the Chola dynasty.

The BJP MP also said that the same Chola dynasty members had attended the ceremony of the installation of the Sengol in Parliament.

Nadda said the Sengol was brought from Madras by air and handed over through a ritual, probably on August 14, 1947, to Nehru at his residence. He also said that the Sengol was sent to Anand Bhawan and thereafter kept in a museum where it was written that it was Nehru's walking stick.

The remark led to an uproar as the opposition MPs contested it. Shukla, who was in the Chair, asked Nadda if he would "authenticate" this, to which the BJP leader replied in the affirmative.

In his speech, Yadav took a jibe at the Congress leaders, saying some people "do not respect the Constitution, they roam around keeping (a copy of) the Constitution in their pocket".

The BJP never opposed issues connected with the progress of the country, he said. The Congress, on the other hand, opposed GST and the new Parliament, he said, adding the BJP works on the principle of "nation first".

"The founder of this party (erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh), Syama Prasad Mookerjee, sacrificed his life for Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

"The Narendra Modi government established the Sengol in the new Parliament to add civilizational value," he said.

Yadav said that the Congress had also "submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the Ram Setu case, claiming Lord Ram does not exist." The chapter on fundamental rights in the Constitution carries a picture of Lord Ram, and yet the Congress took away the fundamental rights of citizens, ignoring him, Yadav said.

Attacking opposition parties, Yadav said whenever they tried to spread lies about the BJP government, the public punished them with electoral defeats.

He alleged that the previous Congress government repeatedly attacked the three pillars of democracy-- legislature, executive and judiciary.

Anbumani Ramadoss of PMK said there is a need to have a caste census in the country as all reservations are based on it.

P Wilson of DMK alleged that in the last ten years, the government has done everything in its power to "brick by brick destroy" the edifice of the Constitution.

"From undermining parliament to erosion of institutional integrity of other constitutional bodies to misuse of government power and stripping the fundamental rights of citizens, the very fabric of our Constitution has been ripped to shreds by this government," he alleged.

In the 17th Lok Sabha, more than 221 bills were approved but one-third of the bills were passed with less than an hour of discussion or without debate, Wilson charged.

"No discussion on worst genocide committed in Manipur, standing committees have been reduced to paper committees," he said.

AITC MP Mausam B Noor, UPP (L) MP Rawngwra Narzary and BJP MP Surendra Singh Nagar also participated in the debate.

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