PM Modi hurls 'balak buddhi' barb at Rahul Gandhi, asserts mandate is for stability, continuity

PTI

New Delhi, July 2

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday mounted a stinging counterattack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi as he mocked him as 'balak buddhi' (childish mind), accused him of linking Hindus with violence and making false claims in Lok Sabha, and sought stringent action against him to protect parliamentary democracy.

Replying to a nearly 18-hour-long discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address in the Lower House, Modi said the Congress and its "ecosystem" are working day and night to impress upon people that the BJP-led NDA has been defeated in the elections despite voters handing his government a historic third-term for stability and continuity.

"I will tell Congress leaders not to suppress people's mandate under the garb of fake victory celebrations," he said and added the opposition party was behaving as if it had won 99 out of 100 seats and not out of 543, the actual strength of the House. The Congress turned into a "parasitic party" in these polls, feeding off its partners' votes to boost its tally, he said.

Instead of conceding defeat, the Congress is behaving arrogantly, he said, adding that its cheerful response to the mandate is like a parent encouraging a child who has fallen off a cycle.

In his nearly 135-minute speech, which saw continuous slogan-shouting on the Manipur issue and heckling by opposition members, Modi turned his usual combative self after initially listing various successes of his government since 2014 as he took on the Congress and Gandhi without naming him.

"The mandate for the Congress is to sit in the opposition and keep shouting once it runs out of logic," he said.

Asserting that the main opposition party delivered its third worst performance in the national elections and failed to reach 250-mark after the 1984 polls, he took a swipe at Gandhi saying, "Aaj desh inse kah raha hai - tumse na ho payega (Country is telling him that you are not up to it)".

He said the Congress became a "parasitic party" in these polls as its tally of 99 was largely courtesy its allies, while it performed poorly with a strike rate of merely 26 per cent where the party was pitted directly against the BJP or was the main opposition force. Its strike rate rose to 50 per cent where it was a junior partner, he added.

He accused the party of trying to spread anarchy through its economic policies, "divisive" politics around castes and regions and by raising doubts about India's democratic process.

Keeping the Congress, especially Gandhi, in his crosshairs, Modi said it has become addicted to lies like a man-eater animal to blood.

The House witnessed childish conduct yesterday, he said of Gandhi's speech in which the Congress leader had targeted the government over the Agnipath scheme, the MSP regime and the revamping work in Ayodhya and accused it of violating tenets of Hinduism by allegedly spreading violence and hate, drawing massive protests by treasury benches. Many of his comments were later expunged by the Chair.

"Laments of 'balak buddhi' went on. 'I have been beaten'. A new drama was rolled out to gain sympathy," he said in reference to Gandhi's charge that he was targeted in different criminal cases at the behest of the central government.

The fact is he is on bail in a corruption case of thousands of crores of rupees, was convicted for calling an OBC community thief and had to tender an apology before the Supreme Court for speaking lies, Modi said, adding that he had been facing several cases of defamation.

This "balak buddhi" at times tries to hug someone in the House and sometime winks, the prime minister said, accusing him of tainting Parliament's decorum with his conduct despite being a many-term MP.

He said, "Parliament was misled yesterday. Parliamentary democracy cannot be protected without taking the issue seriously."

He told Speaker Om Birla that the House and the country expect him to take stringent action to stop this practice of lies.

Gandhi, who was present in the House, was reprimanded by Birla for nudging opposition members to enter the Well to protest during Modi's speech, and the House later passed a motion moved by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and seconded by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to condemn the opposition's obstructionist conduct.

When seasoned leaders of the party choose this path of anarchy, it shows that the country is headed for trouble, the prime minister said. He asked opposition parties to work with the government on issues of national interest but kept the heat on Gandhi as he concluded his speech by wishing that the God grant good sense to "balak buddhi". 

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#Lok Sabha #Narendra Modi #Rahul Gandhi