Adopting a tit-for-tat strategy to counter the BJP’s offensive in Parliament, the Congress has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, flagging “inaccuracies” in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.
The main Opposition has also flagged Hamirpur MP and former Union minister Anurag Thakur’s speech in Lok Sabha.
The Congress’s move comes after the uproar over Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s address in Lok Sabha. Several portions of the speech were expunged and the BJP submitted a notice against the inaccuracies. Commenting on the notice by BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said any member trying to mislead the House won’t get away easily and “rules will get them”.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore has written to the Speaker, requesting that Direction 115(1) be invoked. The direction states: “A member wishing to point out any mistake or inaccuracy in a statement made by a Minister or any other member shall, before referring to the matter in the House, write to the Speaker pointing out the particulars of the mistake or inaccuracy and seek the permission of the speaker to raise the matter in the House.”
“In view of foregoing as per procedural norms, therefore, request you take note of the factually incorrect, inaccurate and misleading statements made by Prime Minister and Shri Anurag Thakur requisite proceedings be initiated and appropriate action be taken in this regard,” Mr Tagore has said.
Among the parts of Mr Thakur the Congress has flagged are his claims that the Indian forces did not have fighter jets and adequate weaponry before the BJP came to power in 2014. “We had Jaguar, Mig 29, SU-30, Mirage 2000. We had nuclear bomb, missiles like Agni, Prithvi , Aakash, Nag, Trishul and later Brahmos,” the Congress MP has pointed out.
He has also challenged the government’s claim that 25 crore people have been brought over the poverty line in the past 10 years.
In the Prime Minister’s speech, the Congress MP has said he had inaccurately claimed that the Congress’s vote share went down in 16 states where it contested alone. “This is factually incorrect. Congress vote share increased in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Telangana etc,” he has said. On the Prime Minister’s charge that the Congress made a “false promise” of giving Rs 8,500 a month to women, the Congress MP said, “It was a promise (to be fulfilled) on victory and government formation.”
The Congress MP’s letter to counter the BJP move suggests that Parliament sessions are likely to see disruptions going forward as an Opposition upbeat after its good show in this election goes all-out to counter the BJP, which finished below majority mark this time and had to reply on its allies to form the government.
The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been adjourned after the President’s address and the debate thereafter. Both Houses saw spirited protests by the Opposition, including a walkout in Rajya Sabha during the Prime Minister’s address. The Parliament is expected to reconvene in the third week of July ahead of the Union Budget.
