Journalism of Courage
‘Welcomed him as if he were a superstar’: Priyanka Gandhi slams BJP MPs for felicitating Pradhan
In veiled remarks over Modi's recent Instagram reels addressing the protesters, Gandhi claimed “Prime Minister and his friends” believed they could overcome the crisis through public relations, narrative-building and what she described as “pliant” media.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Tuesday. (Sansad TV via PTI)
Priyanka Gandhi spewed fire and pathos in equal measure in Parliament Tuesday, taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah two days after Cockroach Janta Party-led protests forced Dharmendra Pradhan to resign as the Union Education Minister.
“The whole country, not merely the Congress, is asking… who, the Home Minister or Prime Minister allowed lathis, tear gas, water canons, pellet guns, and AK-47 to be used on students…” she raged. “Why were women hit… their clothes torn? What was the need to humiliate them?”
“What was the need to treat them in such a brutal and inhuman manner? Were they terrorists?”
“Answer us! The Congress is asking… we want answers. Who will answer? Did the Prime Minister give permission? Did the Home Minister give it? Will they answer?”
Gandhi also ripped into the Bharatiya Janata Party after a lavish welcome for Pradhan as he walked into parliament this morning; it was “shameful (to treat him) as if was a superstar”.
Pradhan, a Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha, was met by BJP MPs with gifts and ‘Pradhan Zindabad’ slogans, while opposition MPs countered with slogans like ‘Chor, chor, paper chor’.
“Don’t you think it is shameful? Everyone saw the circumstances under which Pradhan resigned… but yesterday, in parliament, he was welcomed as if he were a superstar!”
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In an emotion-laden speech, punctuated by shouts of approval from opposition benches and cries of dissent from the ruling side, Priyanka Gandhi also flagged the health of a young woman injured during a police lathicharge in Delhi and admitted to the ICU of a city hospital.
”What was the need to inflict such oppression on an innocent girl?” she asked.
The Congress MP also presented a big-picture critique of the government and its policies, claiming that a paltry education budget of Rs 1.4 lakh crore – dwarfed by the Rs 16 lakh crore in written-off business loans – reflected its misplaced priorities. India’s education system, she warned parliament, faces multiple challenges due to centralisation and declining investment.
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