Oppn ran away from Lok Sabha debate, says Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack against the opposition over the no-confidence motion that it brought against the Union government in the Lok Sabha, saying that a befitting reply has been given to those spreading “negativity”.

“Only two days ago, we defeated the opposition’s no-confidence motion in Parliament and gave a befitting reply to those spreading negativity in the country. The opposition fled midway. They were afraid of voting over the no-confidence motion. Had there been voting it would have unmasked the alliance. They have betrayed the people of Manipur,” the PM said.

The Opposition had said that it had brought the motion against the government to force the Prime Minister to address the violence in Manipur, where ethnic clashes over the past three months have killed at least 156 people. The debate on the motion began on Tuesday and continued till Thursday, when PM Modi delivered his reply in the Lower House. The government later defeated the motion through a voice-vote after Opposition MPs staged a walkout earlier protesting that the PM had not addressed the issue 90 minutes into his speech.

While virtually addressing the Bhartiya Janata Party’s Kshetriya Panchayati Raj Parishad in West Bengal, where with BJP national president JP Nadda was in attendance, Modi tried to turn the table on the opposition parties on Manipur.

“They didn’t want a debate on Manipur because they knew that the truth would sting them the most. They were not bothered about the people of Manipur and their sufferings. They sidelined the Manipur issue and gave priority to political debate by bringing a no-confidence motion,” Modi said.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, addressing a meeting organised by the opposition Congress-led UDF alliance in Kalpetta, Wayanad on Saturday, accused the PM of “laughing”, and having “fun” and only talking about the issue for “two minutes” in his over two-hour-long rebuttal.

Separately, Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was suspended on Thursday from the House , on Saturday said the BJP has a “deliberate design to throttle the Opposition’s voice”. BJP had objected to parts of Chowdhury’s speech during the no-confidence debate where he compared Modi to Dhritarashtra and suggested that the PM is “Nirav” (silent in Bengali) on the Manipur crisis.

“This is a new phenomenon we have never before experienced in our career in Parliament...This is a deliberate design by the ruling party to throttle the voice of the opposition...This will undermine the spirit of parliamentary democracy,” Chowdhury saidat a press conference in New Delhi, adding that he will approach the Supreme Court, if need be.

In his speech, Modi also slammed the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is in power in West Bengal, over poll-related violence during the recently held panchayat elections, when more than 55 people were killed, alleging that TMC has played with blood.

“Recently panchayat elections were held in the state. The country witnessed how the TMC played with blood (TMC ne khooni khel khela),” Modi said in Hindi. Modi went on to allege that the TMC allegedly threatened and stopped BJP candidates from filing nominations and campaigning.

“They do anything required to ensure that no BJP candidate can file nominations. If at all they filed the nominations candidates were threatened and stopped from campaigning. They even terrorised voters. Goons are given contracts to capture polling booths. Even during counting BJP agents were terrorised and sent out of counting centres,” he alleged. The TMC swept the elections securing 51.5% of the votes polled. The BJP bagged 23% votes.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday hit back saying that the Prime Minister has maligned the state.

“The Prime Minister has maligned West Bengal while addressing a small, religious programme. Had there been violence, neither 2.31 lakh nominations would have been filed nor the BJP, CPI (M) and Congress would have won so many seats. BJP killed 20 TMC workers,” Banerjee alleged in a recorded media statement.

Banerjee lashed out at Modi on multiple fronts including freezing of funds, demonetisation, role of governers, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

“Only six months are left (for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls) and you are sending central agencies to arrest opposition leaders so that you can freely win the polls. You can’t fool all the people with communal politics and by threatening them with central agencies,” she said.

The TMC supremo also attacked Modi over the proposed law that seeks to exclude the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the panel to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).

“Do you want to hijack EVMs or manipulate the entire election process? We don’t accept this INDIA (alliance) will oust you from power. You end is near. We would tolerate for six months,” she said.

Later in the day, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of temple and memorial dedicated to Saint Ravidas, a social reformer revered among the Dalits at Sagar in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, where he invoked Ravidas to claim that the opposition was fermenting the “ideology” of slavery and his government was ending it.

“Saint Ravidas ji said dependency is the biggest sin and that those who accept it and do not take a stand against it are not loved by anybody. Saint Ravidas ji provided strength to the society to fight oppression, and (Maratha ruler) Chatrapati Shivaji used it as an inspiration to lay the foundations of swarajya (independence). On their ideology, the nation is moving forward with the same spirit of liberation and rejecting the mentality of slavery,” the PM said.

The PM also said he was inspired by Ravidas to ensure free food for more than 80 million people under Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) during pandemic.

Asserting that his government’s focus is on the welfare of the poor and empowerment of every section of society, the PM also said many schemes have been launched to improve the lives of Dalits, poor, tribals and women. “Matru Vandana Yojana, Mission Indradhanush, Sickle Cell Anaemia elimination, a campaign to free India from Tuberculosis by 2025, Ayushman Card and others schemes have changed the lives of people,” said the PM.

Attacking the previous governments, Modi said, “The schemes used to be introduced under previous governments according to the election season. But we think that the country should stand with Dalit, deprived, backward, tribal women at every stage of life. Let us support their hopes and aspirations.”