The proceedings of the no-trust motion moved against the Modi Government went along anticipated lines, right up to the result which was lopsidedly in favour of the incumbent regime at the Centre. The only distraction was the antics of Congress president Rahul Gandhi who showed why is not taken seriously. After delivering his speech in favour of the motion, he walked up to a baffled Prime Minister, gestured him to stand up, and when Modi refused to oblige and gestured as to what was up, Rahul Gandhi hugged him. Thereafter, the Congress chief walked back to his seat, looked at his party colleagues and winked.
What is one to make of this imbecile act? His apologists have explained that Rahul Gandhi’s action was a humane gesture and that it was no different from the embraces that the Prime Minister gives to world leaders. If it was indeed a humane act, why then did the Congress leader reduce it to a stunt by winking about it? Besides, Prime Minister Modi hugs world leaders such as Shinzo Abe and Benjamin Netanyahu because he friends with them. He has also embraced those like the French and the American Presidents, but it was in a bid to forge a bond in India’s interests. What such interest governed Rahul Gandhi, because he is certainly not Modi’s friend. Only minutes before the hug, he had accused the Prime Minister of being a stakeholder in corrupt deals.
Then there is the issue of propriety. In the midst of the Parliament proceedings, the Congress president insists on embracing the Prime Minister who was clearly not prepared for it. The Lok Sabha Speaker later chided him for the immature conduct. Rahul Gandhi’s act was childish without a child’s innocence. But if the Congress president’s aim was to score through optics, he certainly succeeded, because social media was soon aflutter with images of comments on the embrace.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi made a speech that was both inarticulate and irresponsible. He flirted fro one issue to another without providing substance. What was worse is that he flung wild allegations against the Government, even naming people against parliamentary convention. For instance, he claimed that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had lied to the people on the Rafale deal and that were irregularities in the Government-to-Government contract. The Defence Minister was quick to call the bluff with documentary evidence. Rahul Gandhi said the deal had benefitted a business house which was close to the Government (and the Prime Minister). Again, while gave mind-boggling figures of the gain, he provided no evidence to substantiate his charge. For his trouble, the BJP has now slapped him with a privilege notice. The Congress chief even triumphantly added that the Prime Minister was unable to look him in the eye.
But Rahul Gandhi and his cheerleaders had yet again underestimated the Prime Minister. When his turn came to speak and conclude the discussion on the no-trust motion, Modi used the ammunition the Congress leader had just provided him with. Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s gesture asking him to stand up, the Prime Minister said that the Congress chief appeared to be in a hurry to occupy his position. He then deftly turned the narrative into the haves and the have-nots, saying how could he, son of a poor mother, look into the eye of privileged people like Rahul Gandhi. For good measure, he named politicians — Charan Singh, HD Deve Gowda, Chandrashekhar, Pranab Mukherjee, Jayaprakash Narayan etc — who dared to similarly challenge the Congress dynasty and were cut to size. On more than one occasion, the Prime Minister used the Hindi word, “bachkana” which, translated roughly means unsavoury or amateurish, to explain Rahul Gandhi’s behaviour, right from his responsible comments in the course of his speech to his hug.
Of course, none of Rahul Gandhi’s rants or silly conduct could change the fate of the no-confidence motion. The move was comprehensively defeated, and by a bigger margin than was expected. The only shadow cast on the BJP was that its partner, the Shiv Sena, did not vote. That may not have dented the NDA’s final number but it did cause some discomfort to the party. However, that was more than made up with the AIADMK directly backing the Government, the TRS refusing to vote in favour of the no-trust motion, and the BJD walking out of the proceedings. In the end, the Congress was left with nothing but a fresh dose of embarrassment.
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