New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday for his election speeches and also levelled allegations against the ruling BJP’s ideological parent RSS but most of his remarks were expunged by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
During his speech in the Upper House on the motion of thanks on the President’s address, Mr Kharge, who is also the Congress president, mentioned comments made by Mr Modi in his poll rallies and presented statistics showing the number of times the PM referred to minorities and Pakistan.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman asked him to authenticate his assertions and refused to accept newspaper clippings that the Congress leader showed to buttress his point. Mr Kharge was backed by party colleague and former finance minister P. Chidambaram, who asked how an Opposition MP could authenticate what the Prime Minister has said other than by citing news reports.
The Chair, however, did not accept the arguments and expunged the remarks made by Mr Kharge from the record. Mr Kharge insisted that he was only seeking to highlight the divisive nature of the speeches delivered by the PM.
Leader of the House and BJP president J.P. Nadda too objected to the remarks by Mr Kharge. He said the Congress leader had no knowledge about the RSS and whatever Mr Kharge was saying about the organisation was regrettable.
Mr Kharge said there was no vision or direction in the President’s address to Parliament. He attacked the ruling party for only offering slogans and not doing development work. He claimed there was no mention of the poor, Dalits and minorities in the President's address.
Mr Kharge said while the Opposition talks about the plight of the common man, Mr Modi only does “Mann Ki Baat”, the PM’s monthly radio programme. Mr Kharge pointed out that Prime Minister Modi has not visited strife-torn Manipur. He also appealed to the Rajya Sabha Chairman to put back the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar back in their original locations.
The Congress chief also mentioned the massive Neet row in his reply, claiming the government initially denied any paper leak. He added the government later clarified and accepted that irregularities took place.
”This election witnessed that a major issue was protecting the Constitution. The BJP said it will amend the Constitution. But the elections proved issues keep coming and going but the Constitution will thrive, democracy will survive, elections will keep happening and we will also be here,” Mr Kharge said. “The common people supported the Opposition in this fight. They took a major step towards protecting the Constitution,” he added.
