What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scathing attack on the Congress has miffed the Grand Old Party with several leaders expressing their resentment over his speech in the Parliament on Thursday. The “Nehru surname” remark has irked the party leaders the most.
Speaking to The New Indian, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said, “It is quite unfortunate as he is trying to distort facts. His (Modi’s) main agenda is to attack Gandhi family. It is his personal agenda, without that he cannot speak at all.”
Taking a dig at Gandhi family, PM Modi said if Nehru’s name was not mentioned in a programme for any reason, the Congress used to get agitated. “However, I wonder why those from Nehru’s generation are afraid to keep his surname? What are they ashamed of?” he asked while responding to the debate around the Motion of Thanks in the Rajya Sabha.
Congress also questioned PM Modi’s apparent silence on allegations of stock manipulation against Adani group. “Nothing is there. He (PM Modi) is totally diverting attention from the current situation. For the last four to five days, the Opposition was raising the Adani issue and demanded for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) enquiry,” Venugopal said.
“Why is he running away from this? Pertinent questions were raised in the speeches by Kharge ji and Rahul Gandhi. They were expunged without any reason. There is not a single word that is unparliamentary. Then why do you need to expunge that?” questioned Venugopal.
He was referring to the 18 parts of Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Lok Sabha on Tuesday and six parts of Kharge’s speech in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that were expunged over the Adani issue.
When asked about misuse of Article 356, the Congress leader said, “What is the relevance of today’s speech, what is the relevance of motion of thanks speech? These are all diversionary tactics.”
Meanwhile, Congress Rajya Sabha Imran Pratapgarhi and Vivek Tankha also slammed the Prime Minister over his silence on the Adani issue.
Pratapgarhi said, “The Mann ki Baat which the Prime Minister addresses on radio was repeated during the Motion of Thanks in Rajya Sabha. And I was surprised that the allegations and questions that were raised on him, he chose to not answer them.”
Pratapgarhi said that the Prime Minister did not talk about his friends but chose to hit out at his political opponents. “And while attacking the political opponents he went personal. He even asked why the Nehru surname is not being used by the Gandhi family. He needs to understand that in India the maternal grandfather name is not carried forward. And while attacking his political opponents, he forgot that. And by doing so he is disrespecting the post he holds.”
“The Prime Minister said that the more mud you shed, the Lotus will bloom. But he himself was involved in a mudslinging attack, so who will answer that and will his words be expunged from the records?,” he added.
“The Prime Minister should have responded to queries that we were raising in Parliament,” Pratapgarhi added.
Tankha, however, said that the Prime Minister spoke on all other issues instead of relevant issues raised by the Congress.
He said, “Country today wanted to know what was happening in context to Adani. People wanted him to come out with a white paper and he should say what is his relationship with him. But instead of answering he decided to talk about everything else which has been happening for 10 years or 15 years ago.”
Tankha, who is also a noted lawyer, said that today’s country is not interested in the past. “Past has already happened and people have suffered, parties have suffered. You are in power and you are answerable for today and future. So what is happening today and what will happen in future you are not able to answer that,” he said.
When asked about PM Modi taking a jibe at Gandhi family for not carrying the title of Nehru in its name, he said, “This is his style, which he has been doing for 40 years. So there is nothing new about what he says about the Gandhi family. And by saying all this he is creating a position where people are creating distance from him (Modi).”
Tankha felt that if the Prime Minister wants to create friends then he will have to learn how to make friends. And he should read the book ‘How to make friends’ and how to make friends at a Congress party.”
The Congress leader’s remarks came after PM Modi during his speech in Parliament said that Congress leader and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used the president’s rule 50 times to topple the state government.
He also slammed the Congress saying that efforts were made to discredit the country’s scientists, who gave vaccines to the world reeling under the wrath of the unprecedented Covid pandemic.
He further said that they (Congress) used to say ‘Gareebi Hatao’ but did nothing for over four decades. “While we work hard to meet the expectations and aspirations of the people of the country: Modi said in Rajya Sabha.
“Kharge Ji complains that I visited Kalaburagi. He should see the work done there. 1.70 cr Jan Dhan bank a/c have opened in Karnataka including over 8 lakh accounts in Kalaburagi. So many people get empowered, while someone’s account gets closed, I can understand the pain,” he said.
