Oppn members wave copies of Constitution
NEW DELHI, June 24: The Congress said today Prime Minister Narendra Modi had nothing new to offer in his remarks ahead of the start of the 18th Lok Sabha and “as usual resorted to diversion” and that he has forgotten that the last 10 years of “undeclared emergency” was ended by the people.
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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Prime Minister Modi made a longer than usual customary address “but clearly, even after the moral and political defeat, the arrogance remains”.
Kharge said the nation was hoping that Modi would say something on important issues.
“Narendra Modi ji, you are giving advice to the Opposition. You are reminding us of the 50-year-old Emergency, but have forgotten the last 10 years of Undeclared Emergency, which was ended by the people,” he said in a post on ‘X’.
“People have given their mandate against Modi ji. Despite this, if he has become the Prime Minister, then he should work,” Kharge added.
Recalling the Prime Minister’s words that “people need substance, not slogans”, Kharge said he should remind himself of this.
“The opposition and INDIA Janbandhan want Consensus in Parliament, we will keep raising the voice of the people in the House, on the streets and before everyone. We will protect the Constitution,” the Congress chief said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also said the Prime Minister has shown no evidence that he understood the true meaning of the people’s verdict “which saw him eking out only a narrow and dubious win in Varanasi”.
“The non-biological PM who suffered a resounding personal, political, and moral defeat in the Lok Sabha elections has just given his usual ‘desh ke naam sandesh’ outside the Parliament as the 18th Lok Sabha prepares to commence its tenure He has said nothing new and as usual resorted to diversion,” he said on ‘X’.
“Let him be under no doubt: the INDIA Janbandhan will hold him to account for every minute. He stands brutally exposed,” Ramesh added.
He put out another post about the opposition’s stance versus that of the Prime Minister.
“The non-biological PM is telling the Opposition: substance, not slogans.
“INDIA is telling him: consensus, not confrontation. The non-biological PM is telling the Opposition: discussion, not disruption. INDIA is telling him: attendance, not absence,” he went on to add.
Countering Modi, Kharge also said the nation was hoping that the Prime Minister would show some sympathy towards the youths in the wake of the paper leak in NEET and other recruitment examinations, but he “did not take any responsibility for the massive rigging and corruption of his Government”.
“Modi ji also remained silent about the recent train accident in West Bengal and utter mismanagement of the Railways.
“Manipur has been in the grip of violence for the last 13 months, but Modi ji did not bother to visit the state nor did he express any concern about the fresh violence in his speech today,” the Congress president added.
“Be it the floods in Assam and the Northeast, the backbreaking Price Rise, the historic fall of the Rupee, or be it the Exit Poll-Stock Market scam, Modi ji is mum.
“Modi Government has kept the next census pending for a long time, PM Modi was completely silent even on the caste census,” Kharge also said.
Meanwhile, in a show of strength, the opposition INDIA bloc members on Monday waved copies of the Constitution in Parliament as Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath as a member of the 18th Lok Sabha.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee, and Samajwadi Party leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Awadhesh Prasad were seated in the first row in the opposition benches.
In a prestige battle, Prasad defeated the two-time sitting BJP MP Lallu Singh from Faizabad, the constituency that comprises Ayodhya, by a margin of 54,567 votes.
Hugs and greetings marked the beginning of the 18th Lok Sabha as members walked into the cavernous chamber of the lower house, with some touching the threshold reverentially as they embarked on the journey as public representatives.
First term lawmaker Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of BJP stalwart late Sushma Swaraj, was among the early entrants to the Lok Sabha chamber. She mingled with the fellow members, exchanging greetings and clicking photographs.
Members of the TDP, a key ally of the BJP, sported yellow scarves while the Samajwadi Party members walked in the Lok Sabha chamber wearing red caps and pale-red coloured ‘gamchas’. They waved copies of the Hindi version of the Constitution.
TDP’s K Ram Mohan Naidu, the youngest member of the Union Cabinet, hugged fellow minister Chirag Paswan of the LJP(RV) and warmly greeted Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Actor-politician Ravi Kishan of the BJP came to the House dressed in a dhoti-kurta, while Anita Chouhan, the first-term BJP member from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, donned traditional attire.
BJP member from Meerut, Arun Govil, who played the role of Lord Ram in television serial Ramayan, was seen going around and greeting fellow members as he began his political innings.
Another actor-politician Kangana Ranaut, who won for the first time on a BJP ticket from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, entered the Lok Sabha chamber wearing a white saree.
Both Ranaut and Govil were seen seated in the eighth and the ninth rows respectively.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was seated in the third row.
Earlier INDIA bloc leaders staged a demonstration at Parliament House on the opening day of 18th Lok Sabha. (PTI)
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