NEW DELHI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today launched a blistering attack on the BJP in the Lok Sabha, saying the leaders of the ruling party “were not Hindus as they were spreading fear and hatred” round the clock, in a statement that drew massive protests from the treasury benches that accused the opposition leader of calling the entire Hindu community violent.
Armed with a picture of Lord Shiva, Rahul, in his maiden speech as the Leader of the Opposition, said the Lord symbolised fearlessness, tolerance and forgiveness, and that the “BJP leadership should espouse these feelings”. He said the ruling party “should not instil fear among sections of the society” and instead work for the betterment of the country with the spirit of tolerance, as espoused by Lord Shiva.
Rahul’s speech saw interventions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi twice while several Union Ministers too intervened, seeking authentication of his comments on the “failure” of the Agniveer scheme, “lack of compensation” to the residents of Ayodhya whose houses and shops were demolished for building the temple and “denial of” MSP legal guarantee to farmers.
Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bhupender Yadav and Kiren Rijiju intervened during Rahul’s almost two-hour-long speech, during which he blamed the Centre for its “all-out assault” on the Constitution.
Led by the PM, the treasury benches accused the Congress MP of insulting all Hindus. This was after Rahul, armed with a copy of the Constitution and photos of religious figures, launched a fierce attack on the BJP and its ideological mentor RSS, claiming “neither of them truly represented all Hindus”.
“If you look at Lord Shiva’s image, you will know that Hindus can never spread fear and hatred. But the BJP spreads fear and hatred round the clock. All religions and all our great men talk about non-violence and fearlessness, but those who call themselves Hindus only talk about violence, hatred and falsehood. ‘Aap Hindu ho hi nahin’ (you are not Hindus),” the Congress leader said.
The PM rose to rebut Rahul’s remarks. “Calling the entire Hindu society violent is a serious issue,” Modi said. His second intervention drew jeers from the Opposition benches as the PM declared that the Constitution had taught him to respect the post of the Leader of the Opposition, which is held by Rahul Gandhi. The jeers over Modi’s comments were mainly due to the Opposition’s constant accusations that the Centre was trying to subvert the Constitution, a charge the BJP has trashed.
“It feels nice… BJP people are repeating ‘Jai Samvidhan’ after me,” Rahul quipped. The Congress MP began his speech by claiming a “full-scale and systematic assault on the idea of India… the Constitution… and on people who resisted the attack on the Constitution”. “Many opposition leaders were personally attacked and some are still in jail,” he said.
Home Minister Amit Shah sought an apology from Rahul for “hurting the feelings of crores of people who took pride in identifying themselves as Hindus”. However, Rahul retorted that he was speaking only about the BJP, and not the entire Hindu society. “The BJP, RSS or Modi are not the entire Hindu society,” he said. He also targeted the Centre over the PM’s “silence” on Manipur violence, NEET controversy and the “failure” to give MSP to farmers. “The government called farmers terrorists,” Rahul said, referring to the farm stir against the now-scrapped three controversial laws. Rahul alleged that the BJP government had targeted minorities, who had always stood “like a rock” with the nation. Referring to Modi’s much-criticised comment on not having been born biologically, the Congress leader said the PM took decisions like demonetisation and introducing GST after “getting divine signals”.
When Speaker Om Birla asked Rahul to maintain the dignity of the House, the Congress MP said, “I respect your words as the Speaker is the custodian of the House. You should not bend before anybody (referring to Birla bowing while greeting PM Modi on being ushered to the Speaker’s chair after his re-election to the post)… We will listen to what you say, but there should be fairness in the House.”
Later, at a hurriedly convened press conference, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and BJP Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi criticised Rahul’s speech, accusing him of belittling the post of the Leader of the Opposition. They said Rahul made an “extremely irresponsible speech” that inflicted a “grave insult on Hindus by linking them to violence and spreading falsehoods”.
Vaishnaw claimed the nation had been left “distraught” by Rahul’s statement against Hindus and declared that he had used the word “violent” for Hindus.