Rahul Chucks, Modi Ducks
- PM Narendra Modi’s speech in Parliament lasted 75 minutes while he countered most allegations aimed at his government.
- Modi, however, did not respond to the specific issues raised by Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders.
- He said nothing about his visit to Pakistan, black money, JNU or Rohith Vemula’s suicide.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, took on Rahul Gandhi’s Wednesday attack in Parliament, he peeled down one allegation after another. But he did not answer all the questions raised by the Congress Vice-President.
Rahul’s ‘Black Money’ Daag
Under fair and lovely yojana, you can go to Arun Jaitley, pay tax and all your black money will turn white.Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President, Congress
Calling it the ‘Budget Fair and Lovely Scheme: How to Turn Black Money to White Money’, Rahul Gandhi had attacked the BJP and the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha over black money on Wednesday.
But in his 75-minute-long speech, not once did Modi talk about the issue of black money.
No Country for Dalits?
PM Modi chose not to respond to Rahul’s allegation that the “PM hasn’t spoken to Vemula’s family even once.”
Rahul Gandhi had criticised Modi’s silence in the aftermath of Rohith Vemula’s death and JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest.
Why was a Hindustani youth’s life cut short? Modi didn’t even call Rohith’s mother. Kanhaiya didn’t speak a word against India, but you arrested him and you questioned JNU. Why are you after JNU?Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President, Congress
PM Bigger Than the Nation?
Rahul had also accused the Prime Minister of not listening to his own MPs and Cabinet.
Whose opinion does the Prime Minister respect? You have been taught by your teachers in the RSS that there’s only one truth in the universe – your own. This is all you have shown us in the last two years. The country is not the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is not the country.Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President, Congress
But ironically, the allegation is more reminiscent of the Congress slogan during the infamous Emergency period, when prompted by DK Baruah, a veteran Congress leader, “Indira is India and India is Indira” gained prominence.
Give Us Our Daily MGNREGA
Rahul also alleged that PM Modi had slammed MNREGA, yet the Budget somehow suddenly became all about MNREGA.
Responding to Congress’ contention that MNREGA was the brainchild of the previous UPA government and that the NDA regime had repackaged and usurped it, Modi said such a programme had first been initiated in Maharashtra in 1972.
Such schemes for the poor have been going on for decades under various names and in different versions and that once Jawaharlal Nehru’s name was removed by the same party which curses us.Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
The ‘Chai In Pakistan’ Trip
Rahul spoke of how “Modi disrespected the country by listening to no one but himself” with regards to his sudden Pakistan visit, and the now scuttled Naga Accord “gone with the wind.”
While hitting out at Rahul for criticising his government, Modi sarcastically recalled how the Congress Vice President had torn at a press conference an Ordinance approved by the Cabinet headed by Manmohan Singh and including veterans like A K Antony, Sharad Pawar and Farooq Abdullah.
But Modi ducked the Naga accord charges.
Babbar Sher of Make In India
Modi also took on Rahul for mocking at the government’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ programme, questioning whether such a scheme should be made fun of. He said:
Are you mocking the ‘Make in India’ scheme? If it is not successful, you should suggest what should be done to make it successful.Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
No Defending Savarkar?
Rahul had said: It is Gandhi versus Savarkar, it is ahimsa versus violence. Modi chose to not visit that issue.
The PMO’s Twitter account repeated Modi’s appeal in Parliament.
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