The Opposition is back in strength in parliament, determined to make themselves heard. And they chose to do it today, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to respond to the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address. The ostensible reason was the PM’s speech came as a representative from the violence-hit state wanted to speak.
As a few MPs started protests to Speaker Om Birla’s refusal, the matter was taken up by the rest of the Opposition MPs and soon the Lok Sabha chamber rang with boos and slogans.
As the Prime Minister started speaking the MPs stepped it up with louder slogans and table thumping. Chants of “Manipur, Manipur”, “Tanashahi nahin chalegi (We won’t allow dictatorship)” and “Justice for Manipur” rang out, drawing angry reprimand from the Speaker, to the Leader of the Opposition.
“I can understand the pain of some people. Even after spreading lies, they tasted defeat,” the Prime Minister said after several stops and starts.
“The people of India have given us the opportunity to work for the third time. People have given us a mandate. They saw our track record of 10 years. 25 crore came out of poverty. This never happened since Independence,” PM Modi said.
In the expected hard-hitting political message, the Prime Minister also spoke of minority appeasement, alleged corruption during the UPA government, Jammu and Kashmir, Article 370 and surgical strikes against terrorists — all amid the loud Opposition protests in the background.
The contrast to Congress’s Rahul Gandhi’s fiery speech yesterday — replete with repeated objections and angry outbursts from the Prime Minister and his ministers — could not be sharper.
As PM Modi continued, the volume of protests increased. Admonishing the Opposition, Mr Birla said, “Yesterday, I allowed you to speak for 90 minutes. No one stopped you. This is no way to behave,” he said. Then, as an afterthought added, “Paanch saal aise nahin chalega (We cannot have five years of this)”.
This was not the first time Opposition protests had interrupted a Prime Minister in the House in this fashion. In 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not introduce his Council of Ministers due to protests by the BJP. In 2008, after the debate on no-confidence motion against his government, he was not allowed to reply to the debate.
PM Modi, speaking amid the deafening commotion, soon started responding with barbs.
“Try to read the people’s mandate. You are in the Opposition and you will remain in the Opposition… 2024 onwards, the Congress will be known as the ‘Parasite Congress’. They feed on the votes of other parties. They make alliances with them and cut their votes,” he said.
Then he parodied the Bollywood blockbuster Sholay — the sequence where Amitabh Bachchan was ‘advocating’ for his friend to a prospective mother-in-law.
Without mentioning Rahul Gandhi by name, PM Modi referred to him as “balakbuddhi (the immature one)”, saying he “does not know his limits” and cited the incident when he was caught on camera in parliament winking, thought to be at then close aide Jyotiraditya Scindia.
“The country is now feeling sorry that he is here… the country observed ‘khatakhat diwas’ on July 1. People were checking of they received Rs 8500 in their bank accounts,” PM Modi added, accusing the Congress of being habitual liars.
