BJP members rally behind PM, say country connected under his govt

In Rajya Sabha, former I&B minister Prakash Javadekar said India has waited 75 years for a person from a tribal community to become the country’s President. He also noted that India has grown to become the fifth largest economy in the world — up from the 10th position — and underlined that the most satisfying fact is that it went past Britain, which ruled India for 200 years.

Javadekar said every other country praised India’s handling of the pandemic and the country today leads the world in many sectors while it was on the margins earlier.

BJP Rajya Sabha member K Laxman said that under this government, India will be self-reliant and free of poverty and the youth and women will play important roles in the country’s development. He said it was a historic moment when Droupadi Murmu addressed the joint session of Parliament, and also spoke about the significance of another woman leader — Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman — presenting the first Union Budget in Amrit Kaal.

In the Lower House, Joshi, who represents Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh in Lok Sabha, took a dig at the Congress and said the party is undertaking Bharat Jodo Yatra even though it cannot unite its two leaders in the state. “In Rajasthan, many people distanced themselves from Bharat Jodo Yatra because they don’t know who is holding whose hand and who is hugging whom,” he said.

Referring to abrogation of special status to J&K, Joshi said no violence took place, only because of the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah. “Modi hai to mumkin hai; Amit Shah hai to yakeen hai (it is possible if Modi is there; it is certain if Shah is there),” he said.

Uday Pratap Singh, who seconded the motion, lauded the government for schemes such as PM Awas Yojana, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, Kisan Samman Nidhi, etc, and said the government is working towards doubling farmers’ income. “People say the promise of doubling farmers’ income is a ‘jumla’. MSP on chana was Rs 3,100 in 2014; now it is Rs 5,345. Sugarcane used to be sold for Rs 210 in 2014, now it is over Rs 400… are these not steps towards doubling farmers’ income,” he asked.

Lauding Shah, Singh said he is the strongest Home Minister since Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The second half of the day saw BJP MP Nishikant Dubey lashing out at Rahul Gandhi over his speech. “The Adani Group got mining contracts in Australia in 2010. The Manmohan Singh government helped it,” Dubey said, adding he is “no spokesperson of Adani”.