NEW DELHI: In his return to Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi triggered a massive furore by accusing the Centre of destroying "Bharat Mata" in Manipur and in Haryana, repeating his charge that BJP has sprinkled kerosene all over the country and is now setting it on fire. For that alleged act, he said the BJP government is of traitors and not patriots.
Targeting Modi with blunt words and idioms, Rahul likened the BJP mascot to Ravana, saying the PM listens to only "Amit Shah and Adani", just like the villain from Ramayana mythology kept the counsel of only two persons - Meghnad and Kumbhkarna. In words that launched a storm in Lok Sabha, the Congress leader said Ravana was not killed by Lord Ram, but by his own arrogance, and that Lanka was not burnt by Hanuman, but by Ravana's arrogance.
With a repetitive usage of a provocative accusation - of which a few words implying destruction were expunged by the Speaker late at night - Rahul's attacks that Modi government has destroyed India in Manipur defined his brief but stormy intervention in the debate.
While he surprised everyone by deciding against opening the discussion on the no-confidence motion on Tuesday, Rahul started the debate a day later. And he employed sharp attacks to get back at his arch-rival, focusing his speech solely on the three-month-long Manipur strife, and then drawing from it to talk about the divisive riots in Haryana, and warning about the rest of the country.
"You are throwing kerosene in the entire country. You sprinkled kerosene in Manipur and then lit a spark. Now, you are doing the same in Haryana... you are out to set the entire country ablaze," he said, adding that the BJP regime was destroying India all over.
Though Rahul's speeches are a red rag for the treasury benches, what triggered them Wednesday was the accusation about BJP destroying "Mother India". When objections were raised by heckling treasury members that he was talking about "Mother India" and even the Speaker advised him to speak with restraint, Rahul got back by arguing that his "one mother", Sonia Gandhi, was sitting in the LS, while his "second mother" has suffered in Manipur. Rahul further said that BJP has broken Manipur into two, and Manipur does not exist anymore.
Blaming the government for failing to stop the ongoing violence, Rahul said, "the Indian Army could have restored peace in the state in a day, but you are not using the Army". He said PM Modi has not visited the strife-torn state till date, and he cannot visit Manipur because of his inaction.
In what appeared a tone to settle the scores, Rahul started by recalling his speech on Adani in the house in February, and rhetorically apologised to the Speaker for giving him pain as the attacks on the industrialist had angered senior BJP leadership. But he instead rubbed in the Adani mention, in what appeared reminiscent of his allegations that he was disqualified from the Parliament because of his attacks on "the industrialist close to Modi". He also displayed a poster showing the PM and Adani together, which was criticised by the Speaker.
Rahul's words led to bedlam in the house, with minister Kiren Rijiju asking him to apologise, while other members stood on their feet, as Speaker Om Birla struggled to ensure order in the House.
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