The debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address to the joint session of the two Houses set the template for the newly-constituted Parliament.
It also exposed the wide chinks in the armour of the largest Oppo sition party which seems to have chosen a relative lightweight as its leader in the Lok Sabha.
Still nursing its deep electoral wounds, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhry invited sharp put-dow ns when he laid blame for various ills at the doorstep of the Government while extolling the virtues of the Congress governments.
Modi effortlessly tore into the Congress defences, arguing that the ‘family’ has never recognised the efforts of anyone other than its own members in the task of nation-building.
With both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi present, the PM effectively punctured their self-perceived imperial hauteur, saying that they had ‘risen’ so high that they lost touch with the ground realities.
The rejection of the party in the recent parliamentary poll was proof of its complete alienation from the masses. Rebutting the charge that he never acknowledges the contribution of the Congress governments, Modi recalled how from the ramparts of the Red Fort he had asserted that every government since Independence had contributed to the progress the country had made.
‘It is the family which fails to see anyone bar its own members,’ the PM said, and went on to ask if anyone between 2004 and 2014 had ever mentioned the name of Atal Behari Vajpayee. Indeed, ‘you even completely ignored Narasimha Rao…’
In short, Chowdhry, who earned notoriety in his maiden speech in his new role as the leader of the Congress group in the Lok Sabha, for using a pejorative for the PM which had to be expunged by the Speaker, invited sharp rebuffs from Modi.
The one speaker who stood out from the Opposition benches for her maiden intervention was Trinmool Congress’s member from Krishannagar, Mahua Moitra. She warned against the snuffing out of dissenting voices and counseled the Government not to behave arroga ntly.
Speak ers from the ruling party enumerated various acts of omission and commission by successive Congress regimes. Clearly, the ruling party is keen to project the hitherto unknown faces which dominate it in the new Lok Sabha.
The debate was initiated by Pratap Chandra Sarangi, the MP from Balasore, Odisha, who was unsparing in his attack against those who side with the ‘tukdey-tukedey gang’ and shout ‘Afzal Guru Zindabad’ and refuse to say ‘Vande Matram.’
Speaking in English, Oriya, Hindi and Bangla, the Odiya Modi, as he is called in his State for his spartan lifestyle, set the tone for the young guns of the BJP.
A notable speaker from the treasury benches was the 28-year-old Tejasvi Surya, who represents Bangalore South. Honing new and young talent both in Parliament and in government seems to be the objective of the PM.
In this context, Modi yet again pinned down the Congress leadership. ‘We were down once, but we picked ourselves up, learnt from our mistakes and earned the trust of the people… but you are stuck with the Family which does not permit anyone else to grow…
Such trenchant words left the Gandhis seething with helpless rage, but they had nothing to say in repudiation. The same tone and tenor was evident on the debate in the Rajya Sabha with the PM replying on Wednesday in his standard defensive-cum-attacking manner.
Picking up the thread from where he had left off the previous day in the Lok Sabha, he blamed the Congress for not knowing how to handle either defeat or victory. Refuting the claim that in the last month’s poll democracy had lost, he rhetorically asked if ‘India lost in Wayanad? Or in Raebareli?
Is a loss for the Congress a loss for the country? When Rahul loses in Amethi it is a loss for India and if he wins in Wayanad it is a win for India.’ Modi said he felt distressed by such a self-centered attitude of the ‘family.’
He reminded the Congress how it had won Assembly polls in three States, but look at reports of factionalism and misgovernance coming from these States. Pointedly referring to the mocking of the Yoga Day and the Make-in-India campaigns, the PM advised the Congress leadership to adopt a positive outlook.
The PM rubbished the claim that ‘Old India’ was better than Modi’s New India, saying it was wrong to blame the entire State for the recent death of a 24-year-old youth in Jharkhand in a mob assault. The culprits deserved strongest possible punishment but there was no need to politicise the killing.
In sum, the Opposition will have to do better collectively to take on the Government in the 17th Parliament. A handful of members on the Opposition benches in the 50s and 60s used to take a good measure of governments enjoying overwhelming majorities in Parliament.
By S Sadanand
