In a stormy end to the opening session of the 18th Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a blistering attack on the Congress, launching a broadside against the newly-elected Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi whom he berated for having “balak buddhi” (a child’s brain), while the entire Opposition took to heckling and sloganeering throughout the PM’s speech.
The Prime Minister was replying to the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha, while the Opposition demanded that he speak on Manipur and other issues. After Rahul Gandhi’s lengthy address where he lashed out at the BJP, in general, and Modi, in particular, the PM accused him of displaying “childish behaviour”.
“I would like to tell you about a child who returned from school and complained to the mother that he was beaten up. The child did not say that he had abused someone in the school, torn another’s book and stolen someone’s tiffin.
Yesterday, we saw childish behaviour in the House. This was to gain sympathy. This person is out on bail on a corruption case; he has received punishment for calling an OBC person a thief and he has a case registered for insulting Veer Savarkar,” said Modi, attacking Rahul Gandhi.
With Opposition members shouting ‘Justice for Manipur’ and entering the Well of the House, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was seen chiding Rahul Gandhi. Amid this, Modi said: ”The people of this country have given a mandate to the Congress in the 2024 elections and the mandate of this country is that you sit in the Opposition and when the arguments end, keep shouting.”
He said a “conspiracy” has been hatched to level false allegations against Hindus and to spread lies.
“Lies are being spread regarding EVMs...Lies regarding Constitution… Lies regarding reservation… before that, lies regarding Rafale, HAL, LIC, banks… They even dared to mislead the House yesterday by telling lies about Agniveer;, they said MSP was not being given,” said the PM.
“This is the nation’s bad luck that the Congress, which ruled for six decades, is busy spreading anarchy. They go to the South and speak against the people of the North; they speak against the South when they go North. They have made all possible attempts to create a divide based on language. The leaders who advocated separation of a part of the country, they were given Parliament tickets by the Congress,” said Modi.
Paper Leak
Modi assured that no one involved in paper leaks will be spared as the government is working on a war footing. He also said that his government does not believe in appeasement.
“The President expressed concerns about paper leaks in her address. I also want to tell students and youngsters that the government is serious about controlling such incidents and we are taking back-to-back steps on a war footing to fulfil our responsibilities,” he said.
“Those playing with the future of youngsters will not be spared; arrests are being made across the country in the NEET issue. The Centre has framed strict laws, and important steps are being taken to strengthen the entire system of conducting examinations,” Modi added.
