Kharge lashes out at PM Modi in Rajya Sabha after opposition strike

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, accompanied by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, addresses the media after the opposition staged a walkout of the House during the ongoing Parliament session, in New Delhi, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Indian National Alliance for Inclusive Development (INDIA) staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha on July 3 as it alleged that the Leader of the Opposition in the House, Mallikarjun Kharge, was not allowed to speak during the Prime Minister's reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.

We staged a strike because the Prime Minister, while replying to the debate on the President's speech, gave false information… It is his habit to tell lies, mislead people and speak against the truth, Mr Kharge said, after leaving the office during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech.

Accusing Mr Modi of giving false information in the House, Mr Kharge said the ruling BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was anti-Constitution.

Mr. Kharge quoted an article dated November 30, 1950, from the RSS publication Organizer to claim that the organization had opposed the Constitution by claiming that it contained nothing Indian.

They opposed the Constitution and rejected it, and now they are talking about protecting it. They have been against the Constitution from the beginning, he said.

Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi and P. Chidambaram, nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagams (DMK) Tiruchi Siva, Trinamool Congress Sagarika Ghose and Sushmita Dev, Jharkhand Mukti Morchas (JMM) Mahua Maji, Rashtriya Janata Dals (RJD) Manoj Jha and Shiv Sena-UBT's Priyanka Chaturvedi were among those who rallied behind Mr. Kharge.

Ms Dev said the BJP has disrespected the constitutional post of the Leader of the Opposition. A saga of lies in the Prime Minister's speech in the Rajya Sabha. The Opposition cannot be expected to sit through such a speech without being given a single opportunity to intervene, she said in a message on X.

The Congress also reacted to Mr Modi's comments on Manipur during his reply to the motion of thanks to the President's speech.

Today in the Rajya Sabha, after months of absolute silence on the issue, the non-biological Prime Minister made a stunning statement that the situation in Manipur is normal. In reality, the situation is still tense, as the Member of Parliament from Manipur Interior pointed out in the Lok Sabha on July 1, and the Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh, said.

And Pradhan Mantri, a non-biological volcano, has yet to visit Manipur since its eruption on the night of May 3, 2023, nor has it met the state's political leaders. The President's speech was also silent on the issue, Ramesh added.

The Congress leader also responded to Mr Modi's remarks in the Rajya Sabha that since the results were out, a Congress leader has been saying that a government with one-third of the votes is in place.

What is the greater truth than this? We have completed 10 years, 20 more to go. One-third is completed, two-thirds to go. So we are very happy with this prediction, Mr Modi had told the House.

Mr Ramesh, who had referred to the Prime Minister as a one-third Prime Minister, said: “As always, the one-third Pradhan Mantri is a distortion. The label of ek tihai (one-third) does not refer to the tenure of his government. It refers to our own non-biological Prime Minister.”

After the resounding personal, political and moral defeat of June 4, his legitimacy and aura have been reduced by a third – and he himself depends on two other Ns for his political survival. His government is anyway on its last legs and could fall at any moment, he added, the two Ns referring to Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party leader N. Chandrababu Naidu.