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Journalism of Courage
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Sunday opened for the BJP during a discussion on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, alleging that the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties was targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi because “he is a poor man’s son”. Dubey lashed out at the Opposition coalition over its “inherent contradictions” and spoke of the “lack of trust” among its constituents.
Responding to Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi’s criticism of Modi’s “maun vrat (vow of silence)” on Manipur, Dubey, the first speaker from the Treasury benches, alleged that the Opposition party had forgotten the atrocities that occurred in the Northeast during the time of its governments. Dubey neither spoke much on Manipur nor countered Gogoi’s statements and claims on the issue, and instead focussed his attack on the INDIA alliance and the Gandhis.
“I am sure if you ask many of the members in this group, which calls itself INDIA, many won’t know its full form (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) … There was such a brouhaha over Rahul Gandhi’s return to Parliament but where did he go? He was here in the Budget Session. The Supreme Court has not acquitted him. He has also said he will not say sorry. Obviously, he will not apologise to the PM because to them he (Modi) belongs to a lower caste. He says I am not (V D) Savarkar, you can never be Savarkar,” Dubey said.
In a dig at United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the BJP MP from Godda, Jharkhand, said, “I have tremendous respect for Sonia ji. But she is struggling to follow the traditional Indian woman’s way. Bete ko set karna hai, damaad ko bhent karna hai (Has to help her son settle down, and give her son-in-law gifts).”
Naming the constituents of the INDIA bloc one by one, Dubey said almost all of them were at the receiving end of Congress’s power politics in the past. “In 1976, the Congress dismissed the Karunanidhi government and in 1980 when the Indira Gandhi government came back, the DMK supported it. Aap karein to raas lila, hum karein to character dheela (If you do it is fine, if we indulge in it our character is questioned). How is it like that?”
The BJP MP claimed that the Congress insisted on the DMK’s removal from its coalition as the Jain Commission Report on Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination suggested that the party had a role to play in it. He alleged that the Congress targeted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over corruption and was responsible for the “RJD’s Lalu Prasad going to jail”. Dubey also alleged that the Congress got Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases registered against Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav while the BJP got the cases dropped and conferred him with the Padma Vibhushan.
The BJP MP said a white paper released by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress led to a probe against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders in the irrigation scam.
Dubey said that under Modi even BJP leaders are asked to clear their income tax dues. He cited how Karnataka BJP leader G M Siddeshwara was asked to pay Rs 80 crore in taxes (in 2017, there was an Income-Tax Department raid at the residence and properties of Siddeshwara). “But when the Gandhis were asked to pay the dues, they went to the Supreme Court,” he alleged.
Recalling that his sister died because of a lack of proper medical facilities, Dubey told the House that his constituency now boasts of medical colleges because of Modi. “I am such an unlucky human being that my little sister died without treatment in 1993. There was no doctor to treat her for stomach ache. I lost my little sister but today I am proud as a brother because in my constituency I have an AIIMS hospital … Today, from Bangalore, Mumbai, America and London, people are travelling by air to my constituency because there are two medical colleges, three engineering colleges, and four polytechnic colleges, 16 ITIs, two agricultural colleges, one dairy college, and four Kendriya Vidyalaya thanks to PM Modi. These people are opposing him because he brought air travel to the poor and brought gas stoves, drinking water, etc to their homes.”
Dubey said, “This no-confidence motion is against the son of a poor man, the no-confidence motion is against a person who gave people houses, the no-confidence motion is against a person who gave drinking water to people, the no-confidence motion is against a person who gave toilets to people, the no-confidence motion is against a person who tried to bring light to everyone’s home.”
He added, “The arguments made by them would lead to the disrobing (cheerharan) of the policies of the Modi government, like the cheerharan of Droupadi … When Droupadi’s cheerharan was happening, Dhritrashtra, Bhishma Pitamah, Dronacharya, Arjun, Yudhishthir, were all ‘maun (silent)’ and none of them survived. When they do cheerharan of Modi, a person who works for the welfare of the people, and they (Opposition benches) are ‘maun’, none of them will survive in 2024, none of them will come back.”
Before ending his counter, the BJP MP said his party would return to power in next year’s general elections with a tally of over 400 seats.
