The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

Hinduism, Manipur, Constituti­on: The takeaways from PM’S replies in House

IF THERE was any hope that the BJP, which has come to power well short of a majority, and the Opposition­wouldhaves­moother relations in this Parliament session, it was settled during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.

While Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s attacks on BJP and PM Narendra Modi were met with an uproar inside and outsidethe­housebybjp,followed bytheexpun­ctionoflar­gepartsof his speech by the Speaker, Modi himself led a no-holds-barred counterinh­isreplytot­hemotion.

If the thrust of his take-down in LS was that the Congress was “anti-hindu”, he branded it “anti-dalit” in Rajya Sabha.

Congress as ‘anti-hindu’, ‘anti-dalit’

Seizing on the opening provided by Rahul Gandhi’s remarks referring to Hinduism in the context of the BJP, Modi took the Congress leader on at length in his reply to the Motion of Thanks.

Modi said: “People of the country will never forgive what happened... Hindus are tolerant as a community. That is why we have a democracy and such diversity... It was said Hindus are violent. Are these your values?... Is this your hatred for the Hindus of the country?”

The PM’S remarks were significan­t given that both inside the House and outside, the Congress and ally and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav have been underlinin­g the BJP failed to win from Faizabad, a seat which covers Ayodhya.

In the Rajya Sabha, where the Congress’s LOP is Mallikarju­n Kharge, Modi questioned the Congress’s caste credential­s.

With the BJP smarting at the INDIA’S claims against it of being against SCS, STS and OBCS, and of its leaders holding the Constituti­on up as they took oath, the PM said that for the

Congress, Dalit leaders such as Kharge were dispensabl­e fall guys. “He (Kharge) stood up as a wall so that the blame of the (Lok Sabha elections) defeat does not go where it should (to the Gandhi family)...they did the same for the Speaker’s contest,” Modi said.

Emergency as counter to Constituti­on narrative

Modi, who in his first address outside Parliament after the results, invoked the Emergency, continued in the same vein in his reply on the Motion of Thanks. “They (the Congress) said that this was the first election where the Constituti­on was the main issue. Have they forgotten that the 1977 (post-emergency) elections were fought to save democracy and the Constituti­on

– and that voters at the time showed that democracy flows in their veins?” he said.

“Even if this election was about protecting the Constituti­on, voters found us capable of it,” Modi said

On other “infringeme­nts” of the Constituti­on by the Congress, Modi talked about the role performed by the National Advisory Council, headed by Sonia Gandhi, under the UPA government, “when Khargeji was in the Cabinet”, and referred to the tearing up of a government ordinance by Rahul Gandhi at the time (he did not name Gandhi).

Underlinin­g ‘clear mandate’

With the crux of the Opposition’s attack being that the BJP that talked of 370-plus seats had been reduced to 240, Modi reminded what the party led by him had achieved in returning to power for the third time was “historic”. “After Independen­ce, this has happened the second time, and after 60 years.”

He also talked of the state elections held simultaneo­usly which the NDA had won and mentioned the states where the BJP had made inroads.

The PM said, the mandate the Congress had received was to “sit intheoppos­itionandke­epshouting­whenyoulos­ealllogic”.heattacked­rahulgandh­i,mockinghis new-found authority as the LOP byreferrin­gtohimas“baalakbudd­hi(infantile)”,andquestio­ningthelog­icofhisatt­acks.

INDIA’S ‘unnatural’ alliance

The PM pointed out that many of the leaders who were now Congress allies in the INDIA bloc had suffered under its rule during the Emergency. “This is opportunis­m. Had they respected the Constituti­on, they would not have done so.”

Referring to incidents of highhanded­ness during the Emergency such as in Muzaffarna­gar in Uttar Pradesh and Turkman Gate in Delhi, he asked how parties such as the SP and RJD which swore by minorities could stand with the Congress. “They are hiding their dark deeds behind the act of holding up the Constituti­on.”

In the Lok Sabha, Modi said the Congress had a “parasitic” role vis-a-vis its allies: “... The parasite eats the body in which it resides. I say this on the basis of facts. Wherever there was a direct contest with the BJP, or where the Congress was the major party, the strike rate of the Congress was only 26%. But where they allied as a junior partner, their strike rate was 50%.”

Manipur, paper leaks, ‘misuse’ of agencies: ‘Don’t do politics’

Accused by the Opposition of using Central agencies to target rival parties, Modi talked about what happened under the Congress. “In 2013, Mulayam Singh Yadav said it is not easy to fight against the Congress, as it willputyou­injail... Iwanttoask (senior SP MP) Ram Gopal Yadav, did Netaji lie? Please tell your nephew (Akhilesh Yadav) who unleashed the CBI on him when he entered politics. The CPI(M)’S Prakash Karat said in 2013 that the Congress misused agencies against political opponents. That the CBI is a caged pigeon was said by the Supreme Court in UPA days,” Modi said.

On the other hand, he said, “I am fighting corruption as a mission and conviction – not for political purposes.”

On the allegation­s made by the Opposition over exam paper leaks, Modi said they were “sacrificin­g an important matter at the altar of politics”. “I assure the youth that the government will not spare the culprits.”

On the Manipur issue, Modi stepped up his counter-attack from his address in LS to the one in RS. He said: “The state and Centre are trying their best to talk to everyone to restore peace.”