Country watching how one man outweighs so many: PM Narendra Modi to Opposition
Launching yet another broadside against the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday countered Opposition allegations against him and his government, saying their “keechad” (dirt) of charges will only make the lotus (the BJP symbol) bloom more, and that he alone outweighs them all.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address amid Opposition chants against him and calls for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into affairs of the Adani Group, Modi told Rajya Sabha: “Desh dekh raha hai, ek akela kitno ko bhari padh raha hai (the country is watching how one person outweighs so many).”
The Presidential Address at the commencement of the Budget Session is a very important event in parliamentary tradition. It has great sanctity and propriety attached to it. This Budget Session has its own added significance because it was the maiden address of President Droupadi Murmu whose elevation to the top-most post is historic. After all, she comes from a deprived community and is a leader of great distinction.
It is tragic that Rahul Gandhi used the “Motion of Thanks” to level baseless, reckless, and shameful allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While doing so, he threw all parliamentary proprietary to the winds and indulged in lies. Rule 353 of the parliamentary procedure rules clearly stipulates that “No allegation of a defamatory or incriminatory nature shall be made by a member against any person unless the member has given adequate notice to the Speaker and also to the Minister concerned”. None of these procedures was followed. What is utterly irresponsible is that even in sensitive matters such as foreign relations with neighbouring countries, he deliberately uttered a lie related to the award of a contract in a power facility: The president of Sri Lanka publicly repudiated the statement of a particular officer, who also withdrew his comments. Rahul Gandhi did not mention this.
Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar Thursday asked the government in the Rajya Sabha if the recent appointment of Lekshmana Victoria Gowri, who has been accused of hate speech, as a judge of the Madras High Court was an “appropriate one”.
A section of lawyers in Tamil Nadu had lodged a protest after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended her appointment on January 17. These lawyers had pointed to her previous association with the BJP and alleged instances of hate speech by her.
Asking a supplementary question, Sircar cited Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju’s written reply that said the “appropriate” persons are appointed as judges. “Do you consider Victoria Gowri’s appointment really an appropriate person – one who has been accused in public of casteist remarks, of bias against minorities?” Sircar asked.
