New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi’s first speech as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Monday triggered a political firestorm as the Congress leader accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of spreading “violence, hatred and lies”, which, he said, were against the basic tenets of Hinduism advocated by Lord Shiva.
Gandhi’s remarks got the BJP top brass — including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh — up on their feet, as the INDIA bloc members rallied behind the Rae Bareli MP, who said that he represents not just the Congress, but the entire Opposition.
“This is a country of non-violence, not that of fear. Our saints spoke of non-violence. Shiv ji ne kaha daro mat, darao mat… ahimsa ki baat karte hain… apne trishul ko zameen mai gaadh dete hai, aur jo log apne aap ko Hindu kehte hai, wo 24 ghante hinsa, hinsa, hinsa…nafrat, nafrat, nafrat…asatya, asayta, asatya. Aap Hindu ho hi nahi (Lord Shiva said one should not be fearful or scare others. He spoke of non-violence. And these people who call themselves Hindus spread violence, hatred and lies round the clock. You are not Hindus),” Gandhi said, speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.
He added, “Hindu religion clearly states that one should stand with the truth, not retreat from the truth.”
There was a furore among the MPs on the treasury benches over the remarks made by the Congress leader, who said that the reaction of the ruling party was a reflection of the fact that his message had hit home. At that point, Modi stood up and said, “This is a very grave issue. Calling the entire Hindu community violent is very serious.”
Gandhi promptly retorted, saying he was not calling the Hindus violent. “Modi, BJP and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) don’t represent all Hindus. The BJP does not have a monopoly over Hindu religion,” he said.
PM Modi will reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks Tuesday afternoon, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiji told reporters.
Home Minister Amit Shah also stood up, demanding an apology from him. “The Congress leader said there is the concept of abhay mudra (represented by Lord Shiva in Hinduism) even in Islam and the Sikh religion. He should perhaps take the views of Muslim clerics and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on this,” Shah said.
It is not the first time that Gandhi has sought to establish himself as a devotee of Lord Shiva. He had said it for the first time ahead of the 2017 Gujarat assembly polls, in which the Congress had put up a stiff fight against the BJP. Later, in 2018, Gandhi had undertaken the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a sacred pilgrimage associated with the devotees of Lord Shiva. On Monday, Gandhi was carrying a poster bearing the image of the Hindu deity that he displayed several times, inviting objections from Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
As BJP MPs protested, with Godda MP Nishikant Dubey claiming that the Congress MP violated Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees Right to Freedom of Religion, through his remarks, Birla said he would treat the matter seriously.
Amid the uproar in the Lower House, Gandhi doubled down on his statement, saying that the defeat of the BJP in Faizabad constituency, under which Ayodhya comes, was a “message” in itself. He claimed that Modi did not contest from Ayodhya as the BJP’s surveyors had conveyed to him the writing on the wall, and so, he went to Varanasi, where he “scraped through”.
Gandhi had previously remarked that if Priyanka Gandhi had contested against Modi in Varanasi, the prime minister would have lost.
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The second time the PM responded to the LoP during his speech was when Gandhi jibed that the BJP, even internally, was not immune to a pervasive “sense of fear”.
There is freedom to speak in other parties, Gandhi said, referring to “G-23”, which was a ginger group in the Congress that had demanded structural changes in the party after the 2019 Lok Sabha poll debacle. Veteran BJP leaders, such as Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, greet him in person when Modi is not around, but avoid doing so in the PM’s presence, Gandhi claimed.
“Democracy and Constitution have taught me that I should take the LoP seriously,” Modi said, appearing to take a swipe at his rival, as the ruling party MPs thumped their benches.
In general, the BJP has sought to infuse fear among the youth, women, farmers, traders, soldiers and the minorities, Gandhi alleged. “The minorities represent India in every sphere. They are patriots who stand like a rock with the nation. You (BJP) spread hatred against them,” he said.
Gandhi also claimed that under the Agnipath scheme, soldiers enlisted as Agniveers are not recognised as martyrs or their families compensated. “The scheme is a brainchild of the PM, not the Army,” he said.
Defence Minister Singh countered Gandhi’s claim, saying the scheme was formulated after consulting as many as 158 groups.
The Rae Bareli MP also attacked the prime minister over the prolonged ethnic conflict in Manipur and the “downgrading” of Jammu and Kashmir from a state to a Union Territory. “You pushed Manipur into a civil war. And till date, the PM has not visited the state even once as he does not even consider it to be a state of India,” he remarked.
Gandhi repeatedly took digs at the PM over the latter’s remarks in TV interviews prior to and during the Lok Sabha elections about how he had come to believe, particularly after his mother’s demise, that he was sent to earth by God.
He also spoke on the issue of the now withdrawn farm laws and Minimum Support Price (MSP), alleging that the BJP called the protesting farmers “terrorists”. As the BJP, including the home minister opposed the remarks, Gandhi said that Harismrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal, which was a member of the National Democratic Alliance when the laws were being drafted, was supportive of his remarks.
This drew a response from Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who said that contrary to Gandhi’s assertion, the farmers were being paid MSP for various crops. However, Gandhi countered him saying that he was referring to the demand for a legal guarantee of MSP.
Incidentally, the issue of NEET, on which the Opposition, led by him, has been demanding a full-fledged discussion, found a mention towards the end of Gandhi’s speech.
“You talk about events 2000 years in the past. Let’s discuss the future of our youth. You have turned NEET from a professional exam into a commercial exam. It is designed for children from rich families, not the poor and meritorious. It’s an institutional failure,” he said.
In his speech, which saw repeated interruptions from the treasury benches, Gandhi also questioned the approach of the Speaker towards the Opposition. He pointed out that when he greeted Birla on assuming the chair after being elected to the Speaker’s post, “you stood straight when you shook my hand, but bowed before the PM”.
Shah immediately stood up, saying that Gandhi had, through his remarks, cast aspersions on the sanctity of the chair. Birla said that he bowed before the PM as his culture has taught him to treat elders with respect, to which Gandhi responded, “But there is no one above you in the House. You are the final arbiter and the last word. I will always bow before you, and so will the entire Opposition.”
“I realised after becoming the LoP that my personal dreams, aspirations have to be put aside. It’s my job to represent all the opposition parties equally. When Hemant Soren or (Arvind) Kejriwal is in jail, it should disturb me,” Gandhi said.
In his closing remarks, the Congress leader said that he accepted the fact that BJP, with 240 seats, is leading the government. “At least accept my wishes… You are the government, elected by the people. Do not spread fear, hatred… Listen to farmers, listen to the youth. When the Opposition wants a debate on NEET, have it. Do not be fearful, people will praise you for that,” he added.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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