Hashtag Politics | Who exactly is unparliamentary, asks Opposition

In an attack on the list, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared an image explaining the meaning of the word “unparliamentary” as “Words used in discussions and debates”. He added that this “correctly describes the PM’s handing of the government now banned from being spoken”. The image also had examples of “unparliamentary sentences”, with some of the words marked in bold: “Jumlajeevi Tanashah shed crocodile tears when his lies and incompetence were exposed”.

New Dictionary for New India. pic.twitter.com/SDiGWD4DfY

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 14, 2022

Sharing a news clip about the list, senior Congress leader and former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet: “All the words used by the opposition to show the truth of the Modi government will now be treated as ‘unparliamentary’. Now what next?”

Alleging that the words were being banned because of PM Modi’s “fear” of the Opposition, the Congress’s official handle said: “Who will be afraid of ‘Jumlajeevi’ — who has given jumlas. Who will be afraid of the word ‘Jaichand’ — who has betrayed the country.”

Senior Congress leader Mallikharjun Kharge said that while the government may have banned the use of words like “Jumlajeevi, corrupt, drama and hypocrisy, it was answerable to the people on ‘LPG & Price Rise, Unemployment, Agneepath’.”

TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale put out a tweet saying: “The word ‘lie’ has now been banned in Parliament as being unparliamentary. However, Ministers of the govt enjoy full legal immunity even when they make false statements or lie in their replies to questions inside the House.”

ashamed, abused, betrayed, corrupt, drama, hypocrisy, incompetent jumlajeevi, baal buddhi, Covid spreader, dohra charitra, nikamma, nautanki, dhindora peetna, behri sarkar are among the many words that will now be called unparliamentary.

What's happening in the country? pic.twitter.com/AwTxaDztGF

— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) July 14, 2022

Calling the move a “gag order” ahead of the elections, TMC MP Derek O’ Brien said: “Now, we will not be allowed to use these basic words while delivering a speech in #Parliament. Now, we will not be allowed to use these basic words… Ashamed. Abused. Betrayed. Corrupt. Hypocrisy. Incompetent. I will use all these words. Suspend me. Fighting for democracy”.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra put out a series of tweets on the issue. In one, she asked if “Truth” was unparliamentary, while quoting the annual gender gap report and the health and survival subindex, to say that India is among the “5 countries with gender gaps larger than 5%”.

Baith jaiye. Baith Jaiye. Prem se boliye.

New list of unparliamentary words for LS & RS does not include Sanghi.

Basically govt taken all words used by opposition to describe how BJP destroying India & banned them.

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 14, 2022

Sharing a clip, the Odisha Congress Seva Dal said that Modi had used the word “Parjeevi (Parasites)” in reference to farmers in Parliament, and said: “Ban @narendramodi before #UnparliamentaryWords”

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla denied any ban on words to be used in Parliament, adding: “Members are free to express their views while maintaining the decorum of the House.”