Modi’s Message

IN HIS REPLY to the president’s joint address to Parliament, which lasted more than two hours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent several messages, the principal being that he is wedded to quickening the pace of economic development and that the effervescence in Congress ranks cannot disguise the fact that the party has lost for the third time running and will remain confined to the Opposition benches. He said the upcoming elections in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand will see BJP increase its vote tally, and countered Rahul Gandhi’s speech attacking him as the rant of a juvenile. He repeatedly referred to Rahul’s remarks as an expression of “bal buddhi (childlike immaturity)” and said the Congress ecosystem—comprising a wide swath of left-liberal commentators and elites—was busy consoling the leader. “Ye dil behlane ke tarike hai (This is just offering salve for defeat),” he said. He was sharper in counterattacking the Congress leader on what he said was a well thought-out conspiracy to plant doubt and uncertainty in the public mind. He pointed out that Congress has become a parasitic party, with its electoral strike rate at 50 per cent in states where it was a junior partner and sinking to 26 per cent in straight contests with BJP. He dwelt on his government’s policies over the past two terms, saying he has stuck to delivering justice for all and appeasement of none. He defended the government’s defence reforms, saying the Congress-led UPA had delayed important decisions, such as the purchase of modern fighter aircraft while every major deal was mired in corruption. He said it was a world of scams (ghotalo ki duniya). Underlining the sense of confidence the Modi government has infused, the prime minister pointed out that today India has a can-do-anything spirit (Bharat kuch bhi kar sakta hai). He said India’s journey towards modernity will continue apace even as the government is grounded in Indian culture and values. On this point, he expanded on his criticism of Rahul’s remark that those who call themselves Hindus were spreading fear. Though Congress has sought to clarify that the comments apply to BJP, it is a fact that Rahul Gandhi did not initially say so. There is a move to run down Hinduism and the country’s beliefs and culture.

Shivraj Fact-Checks Rahul

SINCE FORMER Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s return to Lok Sabha and taking charge as agriculture minister, a section of Delhi’s political pundits has been speculating about how the BJP veteran will position himself, all the more as the party is short of a majority. Chouhan disappointed those hoping for schisms in BJP by making a sharp intervention in Lok Sabha this week that forced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to hastily amend his statement in the House. The moment came when Rahul repeatedly said the Modi government labelled farmers agitating against the repealed farm laws as ‘terror­ists’ and had refused to heed their demand for minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Chouhan rose to say the Modi government had increased MSP for several crops and had committed to ensure farmers got costs-plus-50 per cent. At no stage had the govern­ment denied MSP to farmers. Rahul quickly amended his remarks, saying the govern­ment had not offered a legal guarantee for MSP. Congress had included the promise in its poll manifesto but failed to answer why it did not con­sider such a measure when it was in office from 2004 to 2014 and why states governed by the party could not frame such laws to lead the way. The misapplied reference to MSP was not the only time Rahul Gandhi misrepresented an issue. At another point, he criticised the implementa­tion of GST for benefitting large business houses. The claim is particularly baffling as Congress-run states are part of the GST Council and regularly participate in its deliberations and have also invited the corporates Rahul singles out to do business as well. Congress states are also free to legislate on GST to correct any imbalances that favour the business houses Rahul targets, with the Supreme Court holding that the Centre and the states both enjoy legislative power and that the recommendations of the GST Council are not bind­ing. Though Rahul’s maiden speech as leader of the Opposition was perhaps one of the lengthiest in the House, it was repeatedly interrupted by senior ministers like Home Minister Amit Shah and De­fence Minister Rajnath Singh who challenged the accuracy of the Congress leader’s state­ments on various issues. It is clear that BJP has decided that the Gandhi scion’s assertions will not be allowed to pass unchallenged and more of the same can be expected in future.

The Last Word

The structure of the new Lok Sabha chamber is such that the live telecast of House proceedings completely missed the noisy Opposition protests during Prime Minister Modi’s reply to the president’s joint address to Parliament. There were just a few fleeting glimpses of raised fingers unlike in the old Parliament building where Congress and other opposition MPs deliberately obscured the chair and senior ministers. No such luck in the new Parliament.

Birla Asserts

AFTER HIS RE-ELECTION from Kota and his reappointment as Lok Sabha speaker, Om Birla has struck a more assertive note in running the House, dealing with interruptions and defamatory statements with a firm hand. Soon after being elected speaker, Birla ticked off an MP who sought to use the formal thanksgiving process to raise extraneous points. “I will disallow unrestrained [amaryadit] comments,” he said. It was an early pointer to how he would deal with efforts by Opposition leaders to push the limits in a House where they feel re-energised. He moved quickly to silence Congress and Trinamool Congress benches when they tried to raise the issue of rules in the context of interventions by BJP leaders through Rahul Gandhi’s speech during the debate on the president’s address. He strongly ticked off Rahul for violating the dignity of the House by encouraging party MPs to continuously heckle Prime Minister Modi during his reply to the president’s address at the joint sitting of Parliament. “Leader of Opposition, your be­haviour is unbecoming of you,” he told the Congress leader. He also responded to Rahul’s claim that Lok Sabha TV switched the focus away when he held up a poster of Lord Shiva by pointing out that the rules clearly prohibit the use of pictures and objects and added that he expected the leader of the Opposition to be aware of the conventions and norms of Parliament. He responded to Rahul’s jibe that he had “bowed” to Modi while accepting the leader’s congratulations in a matter-of-fact manner, noting his upbringing taught him to be respectful of elders and treat younger people as equals. His comments came across as a dignified response to Rahul’s sly comment that suggested Birla was being obsequious to the prime minister. As a first-time speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha, Birla took some time to settle into the job but it is evident that he is not prepared to accept the overbearing approach of some Opposition leaders who seek to leverage their seniority to intimidate the chair.

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