Countering the persistent Opposition charge that the BJP and his government denigrate the Constitution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday emphasised that his government lives by the spirit of the Constitution and does not resort to “politics of poison”. Here are the main takeaways of the PM’s one-hour-and-40 minute-long address to Lok Sabha. He was replying to the discussion in Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address. Constitution and Rahul Gandhi Modi focused a lot of attention on what he called his government’s commitment to safeguard the Constitution and took several potshots at Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. “When we came to power in 2014, there was no recognised Opposition. There are several laws in the country that give us complete freedom to work. There are many committees of the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) was a member. But there was no recognised opposition. It is our commitment to the Constitution, our nature to live by it, our intention to follow democratic principles that we decided that even if there is no recognised Opposition we would invite the leader of the largest Opposition party to the meetings. This can happen only if you are imbibed by the democratic spirit,” he said, adding that his government enacted a law to include the LoP in the selection process for the Election Commissioners. Gandhi in his address on Monday indicated that the Opposition does not have faith in the process of selection of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). Earlier, the CEC used to be chosen by the Prime Minister, the LoP, and the Chief Justice. However, Gandhi said. “The Chief Justice was removed from that committee … If the Chief Justice was there, there could be a discussion … The Chief Justice and the Leader of the Opposition could say no … So there seems to be a calculated strategy.” Referring to Gandhi’s controversial remarks that his party was “fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian State itself” since the ruling establishment had captured “every single institution”, Modi said it was the country’s “misfortune that some people are today speaking the language of Urban Naxals openly” and that such people “can’t understand the Constitution or the country’s unity”. Referring to Gandhi’s remarks that the President’s address was “boring”, Modi said those who entertain themselves by getting photo sessions done in huts of the poor will find the talk about the poor in Parliament boring. Attack on AAP and Arvind Kejriwal In his past addresses in Parliament, Prime Minister Modi often singled out the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family. On Tuesday, he also hit out at the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal but without taking their names. Talking about initiatives such as the direct benefit transfer, which, he said, helped plug leakages and save a lot of money, Modi said, “We did not use the money to build ‘Sheesh Mahal’. We used it for nation-building.” It was a reference to the renovation of the Delhi Chief Minister's residence at 6, Flag Staff Road, under Kejriwal. The house has often been dubbed “Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors)” by the BJP and the Congress to target the AAP chief. Without naming Delhi, the PM also mentioned that some parties had for “selfish political reasons”, not implemented his government’s flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, which is helping the poor and the elderly in states across India. He also took a dig at Kejriwal and AAP, saying “some parties are like ‘AAP-da’ for the future of the youth”. Modi also had the Delhi elections in mind. He said some parties are betraying the youth of this country by giving promises to them during elections. “These promises are never fulfilled. Some parties are like ‘AAP-da’ for the future of the youth. But how do we work? In Haryana, the country has seen how we work … Jobs are given without chits and bribes now …” Target Nehru-Gandhi family and caste census pitch On Monday, Gandhi talked about how the Rajiv Gandhi government capitalised on the computer revolution. The Congress leader suggested that India should ride the clean energy wave like it had done the computer revolution, developing its software expertise. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister hit back. “We used to have a PM who was called Mr Clean. He identified a problem. He had said that for every rupee that the Government sends, only 15 paise reaches the intended beneficiary. At that time there was one-party rule from panchayat to Parliament. What a sleight of hand … What did we do? We started searching for solutions so that there is both development and savings,” Modi said, referring to the Direct Cash benefit transfer scheme. “One Prime Minister used to mention the 21st Century very often. I remember a cartoon by R K Laxman which showed an aeroplane on a cart … It shows how cut off they were from the ground reality,” Modi added. The PM also countered the Congress’s caste census and social justice pitch. “Talking about caste has become a fashion for some people today … For 30-35 years, they did not bother to think about giving the backward classes commission status as a constitutional body. I want to pose another question … Has it ever happened that three members from one Dalit family or a tribal family have been MPs at the same time? From this question, you can understand the difference between words and deeds of some people,” he said. His reference was to three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family — Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka Gandhi — who are MPs now.
