Home Minister Rajnath Singh today compared the opposition party to a leaky boat doomed to sink.
Highlights
- Rajnath Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge spar in Parliament over Arunachal
- Rajnath Singh to Congress: 'You have a leaky boat, don't blame water'
- Mallikarjun Kharge had accused BJP of destabilising popular governments
While sparring with the Congress in Parliament over the political turmoil in states like Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today compared the opposition party to a leaky boat doomed to sink.
"Whatever happened was because of the Congress' internal crisis. If there is a hole, it is in your boat...And a boat with a hole, placed in water, will drown. You can't blame the water for it," Mr Singh said, taking on Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who had charged that it is the BJP's "habit" to destabilise popular governments.
In his sharp comeback fortified with figures, the minister remarked that if it is any party's old habit to destabilise governments, it is the Congress.
"Since independence, government have been destablised by the Congress 105 times. Our government didn't," Mr Singh said.
The Congress last week won back Arunachal Pradesh after the Supreme Court set the clock back to when the party was in power. Congress rebels had teamed up with the BJP and independents to form a government in the northeastern state. To bring them back on board, the party changed its chief minister.
In May, the Congress scored a similar victory in Uttarakhand as its government won a Supreme Court-order trust vote.
Mr Kharge in Parliament accused the ruling BJP of grabbing every opportunity to cause trouble in Congress-ruled states.
"You have decided to execute your 'Congress-mukt' (Congress-free) slogan by any means. Wherever they get a chance, they try to get their own government in through the backdoor. It happened in Arunachal, Uttarakhand, they tried it in Manipur and in Himachal...This is not right in democracy," he said.