Aggressive opposition has government in a fix…Om Birla in a dilemma
NEW DELHI: The scene of the 18th Lok Sabha has changed. The opposition is spread out and the government is standing in a scared defensive position. The opposition is aggressive and in terms of numbers it is slightly less than the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is on the target of the opposition for his ways of conducting the House. He was also seen openly trying to avoid the gesture of help from the government.
Today once again the opposition in Parliament seemed determined to show its strength. And they decided to do so today, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood up to respond to the motion of thanks to the President’s address. The result was a furious uproar which was close to reminding of the 2004 BJP protest, which prevented the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from introducing his Council of Ministers.
The apparent reason for the opposition’s protest was that the prime minister’s speech came at a time when the speech of a representative from Manipur was abruptly cut short. The opposition has always maintained that the prime minister has neglected the violence-hit state. He not only failed to visit but also remained silent on it. Today, when some MPs began protesting Speaker Om Birla’s refusal, the rest of the opposition members took up the matter. Soon, the Lok Sabha chamber erupted in din and sloganeering.
However, Prime Minister Modi continued to function amid the din for over two hours. MPs raised loud slogans and thumped tables when the prime minister began speaking. Slogans of “Manipur, Manipur”, “Tanashahi nahi chalegi” and “Justice for Manipur” were heard, prompting the speaker to slam the opposition leader.
“I can understand the pain of some people. They had to face defeat even after spreading lies,” the prime minister finally said after waiting for the din to subside several times. “The people of India have given us a chance to work for the third time. The people have given us a mandate. They have seen our 10-year track record. 25 crore people have come out of poverty. This has never happened since independence,” PM Modi said. In the expected tough political message, the Prime Minister also spoke about minority appeasement, alleged corruption during the UPA government, Jammu and Kashmir, Article 370 and the surgical strikes against terrorists – all amid strong opposition protests.
The comparison was even sharper with Congress’ Rahul Gandhi’s fiery speech yesterday – which was marked by repeated objections and angry statements from the Prime Minister and his ministers. As Prime Minister Modi went on, the voices of protest grew louder. Slamming the Opposition, Mr Birla said, “Yesterday I let you speak for 90 minutes. Nobody stopped you. This is not the way to behave.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday afternoon witnessed unprecedented scenes. Screaming MPs, an angry Speaker and a loud-mouthed Prime Minister as the government and the Opposition were locked in a battle of words. Prime Minister Modi launched a relentless barrage of jibes at the Congress while his critics kept up the din of sloganeering and rhythmic sloganeering. Mr Modi, who stood up to speak on the motion of thanks after President Draupadi Murmu’s joint address last week, faced a din right from the start.
The Opposition began shouting and heckling at the Prime Minister over a range of issues, from the violent ethnic clashes in Manipur (highlighted by a fiery midnight speech by Congress MP Bimol Akoijam) to the leaked question papers of the NEET-UG medical test. There was a moment during Mr Modi’s speech when the Opposition shouted for a few seconds to drown out his words. The Prime Minister, who was waiting for a break, stood up and laughed. “Parasites”, “Khatkhat Divas”: The Prime Minister hit back amid the protests. The incessant sloganeering by the Opposition was so loud that Speaker Om Birla was seen losing his temper more than once as he tried to control the screaming Opposition, but with no success.
And when slogans of ‘Manipur, Manipur’ and ‘Tanashahi nahi chalegi’ started reverberating, a visibly angry Speaker reprimanded Leader of Opposition Mr Gandhi. When the Prime Minister pressed the Opposition, he raised the volume. Mr Birla replied, “Yesterday, I let you (Mr Gandhi) speak for 90 minutes. Nobody stopped you. This is not the way to behave.” “Five years will not go on like this,” he declared.
But the Opposition, emboldened by the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections – in which the Congress-led Bharat Bloc foiled the BJP’s grand ‘Abki Baar, 400 Paar’ plan – continued to make noise. The Prime Minister’s speech today was preceded by a fiery speech by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday in which he attacked Mr Modi, his BJP and the ruling party’s ideological mentor, the RSS. During Mr Gandhi’s speech – portions of which have been struck off record – the Prime Minister stood up twice to intervene; the second time he was met with taunts from the Opposition. Mr Modi began his speech with a reference to President Murmu; one of the many faults the BJP tried to find in Mr Gandhi’s speech yesterday was that he did not mention the President. “The President in his speech outlined our (BJP’s) vision for a ‘developed India’. He said many people have said that the BJP is not taking any action against the President.
