New Delhi: The BJP and the Opposition members on Monday went hammer and tongs at each other in the Lok Sabha. Leading the charge for the ruling dispensation was Union minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi who peppered his multi-lingual oratory with shlokas, anecdotes and poetry.
Fielded by PM Modi to open the debate in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks on President's address, Sarangi made the opposition squirm in their seats and had the treasury benches in splits.
Showering lavish praise on Modi, he compared him to Swami Vivekanand, prompting Congress leader in the House, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, to retort that he should not compare a "monk and a monster". Sarangi also raised the nationalism pitch and questioned whether those who do not subscribe to Vande Mataram and raise slogans like 'Afzal Guru zindabad' have any right to live in India.
He also asserted that the "tukde-tukde" gang will not be tolerated. He said criticising PM Modi was like "hitting one's head against the Himalayas" and took a dig at the opposition for allegedly seeking proof of the Balakot air strike.
Chowdhury said the Modi government was addicted to compliments and is driven by "manipulation", even as he took a swipe at Sarangi for "crossing all limits" in likening him to Swami Vivekanand.
Chowdhury also used a derogatory term for Modi, drawing strong protests from treasury benches. The remark was later expunged. The Congress leader later clarified outside the House that he did not mean what he had said and blamed it on his poor Hindi.
Hitting back at the BJP after Sarangi referred to alleged scams in the sale of 2G spectrum and coal block allocations, he said if there was a wrongdoing why are UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi not in jail. "Why are they still in Parliament", he asked.
In his speech, Sarangi said the Congress gave India an "accidental prime minister", a reference to Manmohan Singh, and praised Modi for his strong leadership that ended "policy paralysis", "enhanced" global respect for India, targeted terrorists based in Pakistan and took welfare measures to the poor.
Emphasising that both Modi and his government are committed to the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden, the minister said by 2022 every poor person will have a "pucca" house with toilet.
Chowdhury accused the government of suffering from a "political plagiarism" syndrome, so that it appropriates all achievements and ignores the foundation laid by the Congress.
He also listed the achievements under the Congress Government and accused the BJP of renaming 19 of the 23 schemes of the Congress party.