PM's "Remote" Swipe At Sonia Gandhi, Opposition Walks Out Of Rajya Sabha

The Opposition cannot listen to replies of questions they raised and can only run away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as the Opposition walked out of Rajya Sabha during his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.

Opposition MPs led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge walked out after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar refused to grant him permission to intervene during the Prime Minister's address.

The Opposition's walkout followed the Prime Minister's swipe at former Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi. "These people are used to running the government on auto pilot and remote pilot. They don't believe in working, they just know how to wait," he said.

The remark was aimed at Mrs Gandhi, who has often been accused by the BJP of running the Manmohan Singh government from behind the scenes.

"But we leave no stone unturned in hard work. We would step up what we did in the last 10 years. Considering what our dreams are, these 10 years were an appetiser. The main course has started now," the Prime Minister said.

As the Prime Minister, members of the Opposition were heard demanding that Mr Kharge, Leader of the Opposition, be allowed to intervene. Opposition MPs raised slogans of "LOP ko bolne do". Mr Kharge, too, was heard requesting the Chairman repeatedly for an opportunity to intervene. "We want to put forth our views, please," the 81-year-old said. The slogans then changed to "jhoot bolna band karo (stop lying)" and "sharm karo (please have shame)".

Eventually, Mr Dhankhar said that the Opposition's conduct is not appropriate. "I strongly condemn unparliamentary practice, please take your seats."

As the slogans continued, the Prime Minister paused his speech on the government's achievements and said, "Mr Chairman, the country is watching. Those spreading lies do not have the guts to listen to the truth. They cannot sit and listen to the answers to the questions they raised. They are insulting the Upper House, its traditions. The people have defeated them in every way and they don't have any other option other than shouting in alleys."

"Sloganeering, shouting and running away, this is their destiny," the Prime Minister said, as the Opposition walked out. 

Chairman Dhankhar then said the Opposition's conduct was "agonising". "I gave the Leader of the Opposition the opportunity to speak without disruptions. They did not leave the House, they left decorum. They did not turn their backs to me, but to the Constitution. They did not disrespect us, they disrespected the oath they have taken. There cannot be a bigger disrespect of the Constitution. I condemn their conduct." The Chairman said he hopes the Opposition MPs will "introspect" and return back to the path of duty. 

The Prime Minister today doubled down on his offensive of targeting the Congress over Emergency to counter the Opposition's Constitution push. "I say with all seriousness that Congress is the biggest opponent of Constitution," he said. 

Speaking about the 1977 Lok Sabha election, held after the Emergency, the Prime Minister said people of the country had then voted to restore democracy. "There has been no bigger election to protect the Constitution. In 1977, the country showed democracy runs in its veins," he said. "If the election this year was to defend the Constitution, then the people of the country found us up to it," the Prime Minister added.

Mr Kharge later said in a social media post that INDIA parties walked out because "PM Modi was lying". "He claims that we are against the Constitution, but the TRUTH is that BJP-RSS, Jansangh and their political forefathers had fiercely opposed the Constitution of India."

They had burnt the effigies of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru at that time. This was a shameful thing and an affront to Democratic values. The truth is that Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had given the credit of drafting the Constitution to the Congress party," he said.