The Lok Sabha on Friday started the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, with members of the Treasury and Opposition benches engaging in a heated debate.
Opening the debate, BJP MP Heena Gavit focussed on the development record of the Narendra Modi government, while Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi led the Opposition’s charge by raising issues such as growing unemployment, misuse of Central agencies, and border transgressions by China.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the debate next week.
Targeting the Opposition INDIA bloc, Ms. Gavit compared it to a cricket team with 11 captains and none willing to accommodate the other. “INDIA bloc leaders were like ‘Big Boss’ participants who live under one roof but everyone eyes the “trophy” of becoming the Prime Minister,” she said.
Ms. Gavit added that it will not be surprising if INDIA bloc leaders start switching sides one after another, witnessing the all-round development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Hitting back, Mr. Gogoi accused the government of resorting to “attention management” to distract nation from economic distress, trying to silence the Opposition by unleashing Central investigation agencies on them. “I wish to say...that we [the Opposition] will not be scared by such tactics.... The nation is not run by some divine powers but as per the Constitution,” he said.
Referring to the delay in swearing in Champai Soren as the new Jharkhand Chief Minister, he said there were different rules for Bihar and Jharkhand. “If we fight against them, we are sent to jail and if we join them, somebody is made the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra...this is their washing machine,” he alleged.
The Congress leader also accused the BJP of hatching a well-thought-out ploy to transform this Parliament from a temple of democracy to a royal court. “I respect the Prime Minister a lot as he has risen to the top position from very humble beginnings. But the sad part is that he has taken his chair to such a height that he cannot listen to the problems faced by the people. He cannot see the tears of the unemployed youth,” he said.
Claiming that the Modi government has “a doctorate in attention management”, he pointed out that when the Opposition had asked why the Prime Minister had not visited strife-torn Manipur, the government talked about G-20. “When we raise questions on China entering our territory, they try to divert the attention by saying that “we are more powerful than the Maldives”. When we say 10% of the population is controlling 50% of the country’s wealth, they claim to be the fastest-growing economy,” he added.
Referring to the Hindi movie Dunki, he said the movie was now our reality. “We saw how 303 people chartered a plane that reached Nicaragua while trying to enter America. In 2022-23, 90,000 people tried to enter the U.S. illegally, sometimes from Canada, and sometimes from Mexico. They are forced to go to UAE, Canada and America leaving their families and homes behind,” Mr. Gogoi said.
Religious divide
Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) claimed that the “14% of Muslims in India, for the last 10 years under the Modi government, feel existentially threatened” and that the “17 crore Muslims in India” felt like the Jews did in Germany during the Second World War.
Rajendra Agarwal, BJP MP from Meerut, said that despite the perception being created by the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had — via measures like the aspirational districts — signalled that he only saw development and not vote bank politics.
“Congress has not only contributed to corruption but also appeasement politics and division in society,” he said, adding that the Opposition’s reaction to the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya undervalued a matter of faith for crores of the majority community. “So much so that a former railway minister set up the U C Banerjee committee to say that the burning of the train in Godhra was because of a stove being lit inside the train bogey,” he added.
Imposition blame game
BJP MP Tejaswi Surya and Congress MP Karti Chidambaram faced off on the question of Hindi imposition. Mr. Surya said that it was Congress, through repeated education policies and the compulsory learning of Hindi via the three-language formula, that “imposed Hindi”. “It was only when the NEP [National Education Policy] was brought in by the Modi government that this was removed and higher education in local language encouraged,” he said.
He also quoted Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in the constituent Assembly debates as the Jan Sangh/BJP’s consistent stand against the imposition of any one language across the country. To this, Mr. Chidambaram responded that Mr. Surya’s words were not borne out by reality. “In reality, the ruling party believes that uniformity is unity, whereas we in the Opposition will always fight to preserve the linguistic and religious diversity of India,” he said, describing the ruling party as going in for “one language, one religion and now even one God”.
