Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 9: Amidst continued sloganeering from the opposition benches demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Gautam Adani – Hindenburg research report issue, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday accusing the former Congress governments of misusing the constitutional provisions to destabilise the elected state governments.
“They say we keep troubling states, but they have toppled elected state governments 90 times. One Congress PM used Article 356 fifty times to dismiss elected state governments. That was Indira Gandhi,” Modi said while replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President for her address to the House. Modi had given the reply to the debate in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Launching a fresh attack against the Congress, Modi said Indira Gandhi undermined the power of regional leaders of Opposition parties, and dismissed fifty elected state governments by allegedly “misusing” Article 356 of the Indian Constitution. “This country is not anyone’s fiefdom. Our policies reflect national and regional aspirations,” Modi said.
“But these people who are now sitting (with Congress), I want to expose them today.” Modi also took a dig at Left parties for siding with Congress by reminding them how the Nehru-led government dismissed the first democratically elected Communist government in Kerala.
As the Opposition kept shouting slogans such as “Modi-Adani, bhai-bhai”, Modi accused the Congress of adopting only “tokenism” to solve problems the country faced. “They (Congress) used to say ‘Garibi Hatao’ but did nothing for over 4 decades, while we work hard to meet the expectations and aspirations of the people of the country,” Modi said.
During his speech, Opposition MPs rushed to the Well of the House shouting slogans against the Prime Minister and raised their demand for a JPC against Gautam Adani. Modi, however, made no direct reference to the allegations made regarding the Adani group but reiterated that more the opposition would throw mud at the government, more the lotus (the election symbol of the BJP) would bloom.
After multiple adjournments due to the commotion, the unrelenting Rajya Sabha was finally adjourned for the day to be reconvened at 11 a.m. on Friday while the Lok Sabha continued with the debate on the general budget presented by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
In a new attack on the Gandhis, Modi questioned why none of them used the name “Nehru” to honour Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. “If we miss out on mentioning Nehru anywhere, they (Congress) get upset. Nehru was such a great person, then why does none of them use the Nehru surname. What is the shame in using the Nehru name,” Modi questioned. Jawaharlal Nehru is the great-grandfather of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who accused Modi of crony capitalism in his speech in parliament on Tuesday amid allegations involving billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate.
The Prime Minister said he lived for the country and wished to only do something for India, while the Opposition was playing political games to save themselves. “Some people’s behaviour and language are disappointing, not just for the House, but for the country,” he added.
During his 90-minute long speech, Modi listed the achievements of his government — from eliminating the waiting period for getting cooking gas to opening bank accounts for everyone and providing electricity connections. He also praised the quick development of a Covid-19 vaccine in India. He says that the country persevered despite multiple attempts to malign Indian scientists. “I am proud of my government for constructing 11 crore toilets for women across the country,” he added.
He also listed government schemes aimed at providing benefits to women during pregnancy as well the post-natal period. “Child sex ratio in India is improving due to our Beti Bachao Abhiyan (Save the Girl Child),” he added.
