New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi speaks in the Lok Sabha during ongoing Parliament session, in New Delhi, Monday, July 1, 2024. (Photo: PTI)
On Monday, in an almost 100-minute critique of the government in the Lok Sabha (LS), Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi flagged the lacunae of the goods and services tax regime that he alleged had broken the back of small and medium businesses to favour select crony capitalists, pointed out the livelihood challenges facing the poor, and termed the Agnipath scheme as discriminatory.
Rahul accused the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of not being Hindus as they engaged in “violence and hate” round the clock. The treasury Benches, led by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, protested the Congress leader’s comments.
Intervening during Rahul’s speech, Modi said, “This issue is very serious. Calling the entire Hindu community violent is a serious issue.” To which Rahul said that he was talking about the BJP and that the ruling party is not the sole representative of Hinduism. “Ye theka nahi hai BJP ka,” he said.
As the treasury Bench members protested, Rahul said, “Aap (the BJP) Hindu ho hi nahi. It is clearly written in Hinduism that one should stand with the truth and not back down from the truth or be scared of it,” he said and added that a true Hindu would not spread fear and hatred.
The PM intervened twice during Rahul’s speech. When Rahul alleged that ministers did not greet him due to the fear of Modi, the PM got up to say, “The Constitution and (the country’s) democracy have taught me to take the LoP with utmost seriousness.”
Apart from the PM, at least five Cabinet ministers, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, also interjected during Rahul’s speech, which lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes. Shah demanded his apology for painting the Hindu community as violent. Shah said the uproar created by the Opposition could not drown the fact that the words “those who call themselves Hindus indulge in violence” were used in the House. Shah urged Speaker Om Birla to seek verification of Rahul’s claims.
Later, at a press conference, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Kiren Rijiju accused Rahul of denigrating the responsible position of the LoP with his “extremely irresponsible” speech in which he made “untruthful” claims about the Agnipath scheme and compensation to locals in Ayodhya. BJP Rajya Sabha (RS) member Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Congress has a history of insulting Hindus.
In his debut speech as LoP, Rahul opened the debate from the Opposition Benches, which his mother, Sonia and sister, Priyanka, watched from the visitors’ gallery. The Congress leader, back to wearing his trademark white T-shirt, held up pictures of Lord Shiva, Guru Nanak, and Jesus Christ and also quoted Prophet Muhammad to stress that all religions — Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism and Jainism — taught the importance of fearlessness.
“Shivji says daro mat, darao mat, shows the abhaya mudra (the right hand held upright with the palm facing outwards), talks about ahimsa, but those who call themselves Hindus indulge in hatred, violence and untruths round the clock,” Gandhi said, pointing towards the BJP MPs. He spoke of how he was “attacked on the orders of Prime Minister Modi and the government” with 20-plus cases launched against him, his House taken away and he was subjected to 55 hours of interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate.
The Congress leader accused the BJP of threatening minorities and spreading hatred and violence against Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. He spoke of the BJP losing the LS election in Ayodhya, where he said people who lost their land for the construction of roads were not compensated, and the inauguration of the temple had space for “Adani ji and Ambani ji” but not for the people of Ayodhya. He alleged that Modi wanted to contest from Ayodhya but survey agencies advised against it. “They said the people of Ayodhya will ensure the PM would lose, which is why he contested from Varanasi,” Rahul said.
Referring to the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment, Rahul said the government regards the Agniveers as “use-and-throw labourers” and does not even give them the status of a “Shaheed” (martyr).
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh intervened to rebut Rahul’s charge. He accused Rahul of misleading the House. On NEET, Rahul said students do not believe in the exam because they feel it is “designed” for the wealthy and there is no place for deserving students. He spoke about his new role as LoP, which demanded that he raise his voice when former Jharkhand Chief Minister (CM) Hemant Soren or Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal go to jail.
By evening, members of the larger Sangh Parivar, such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Sunil Ambedkar, termed Rahul’s comments linking Hindutva with violence as “unfortunate”. The RS also discussed the President’s address. The special session will end on Wednesday, with the PM expected to reply to the debate on the last day of the session.
Earlier in the day, former Union Minister Anurag Thakur opened the debate in the LS on the Motion of Thanks on President Droupadi Murmu’s address, which she had delivered to a joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday.
While the RS had taken up the discussion on Friday itself, the LS couldn’t as it was adjourned amid demands by the Opposition that the House should take up a discussion on the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination. On Monday, the Opposition staged a brief walkout on the issue in the morning session.
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