Parliament Explodes Over 'Cow Urine Expert' Swipe (Image: PTI) New Delhi: A fresh political face-off between the BJP and the Congress broke out in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra referred to a member of the Centre's newly formed education reforms panel as a "cow urine expert", drawing sharp protests from BJP MPs, including BJP MP Anurag Thakur. The exchange took place during the debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, when Priyanka Gandhi criticised the government's plan to overhaul India's examination system in the wake of the National Testing Agency (NTA) controversy. Though she did not mention anyone by name, her remarks were widely seen as referring to Professor V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, who is among the six experts appointed to the high-powered task force announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recommend reforms aimed at making public examinations more secure and leak-proof. Questioning the government's decision to set up yet another committee, Priyanka Gandhi argued that previous expert panels had failed to bring meaningful change. "Hon'ble Speaker, this is what I want to say to the Hon'ble Prime Minister through you. That maybe they should change their advisors. Creating new committees won't work. No matter who their president is." She then referred to the earlier Radhakrishnan Committee, claiming that its recommendations had largely remained unimplemented. "The Radhakrishna Committee was also formed to reform the system. To date, one of his recommendations has not been implemented. And in this new committee there is an ex IB chief, owner of an IT company and there is also a 'gaumutra' (cow urine) expert." Although Priyanka Gandhi did not identify the individual, the comment was widely interpreted as being aimed at Prof V Kamakoti. Prof Kamakoti has previously spoken about the alleged medicinal properties of cow urine. At a public event in Chennai in January 2025, he said cow urine possesses antifungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. He also claimed that scientific research and published studies supported these observations. A video of his remarks later went viral on social media, with critics questioning the scientific basis of his claims and arguing that such comments were inappropriate coming from the head of one of India's premier engineering institutions. Priyanka Gandhi's remarks drew immediate objections from the BJP, with Anurag Thakur accusing her of insulting one of the country's leading academicians. "I will answer Priyanka ji after this. The way she makes an innocent face, misleads people, smiles subtly and even asks the Speaker to smile, she does this while speaking on serious issues. She tries to cover up the wrongdoings and failures of her own government's past," Thakur said. He then defended Prof Kamakoti and accused the Congress leader of belittling his contributions.