Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta 
New Delhi: In a speech where he was expected to talk about the ongoing Manipur violence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned it into a diatribe against the Congress.
Modi responded to the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition on Thursday (August 10) after three days of intense debate in both the Houses of the Parliament. In a speech that lasted over two hours, Modi devoted the entire duration to recall the alleged wrongdoings of the Congress governments in the past and taking one jibe after another against the grand old party, tongue firmly in cheek, while recounting the government’s achievements.
Modi’s response to the no-confidence motion, in which his government’s victory was predetermined because of the sheer numbers it commands in both the Houses, eventually became yet another opportunity for him to take down the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi, even as he skirted the Manipur question.
The opposition parties had claimed that they were forced to move the motion only to get the prime minister to make a statement on the burning Manipur issue in parliament. They had argued that since Modi had remained largely absent in parliament, there was no other way to get him to speak on the issue.
So much of Modi’s time was devoted to taking down allegations and criticisms that Gandhi had made in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (August 9) that for many observers, the prime minister’s speech may come across as a rejoinder to the Wayanad MP. Gandhi had attacked the Modi government primarily on three counts. He hit out at the prime minister’s alleged “ahankar” (arrogance) to not notice the sufferings of people of Manipur, even as he attacked the Modi government’s supposed cronyism. Gandhi then went on to claim that his government’s neglect in Manipur and apparent failure to douse communal flames in Haryana amounted to the Bharatiya Janata Party and its leaders “murdering Mother India” and its diverse voices.
Modi, in his response, touched upon the problems in Manipur for barely ten minutes in his over two-hour-long speech. He urged the political class to find a solution to the Manipur conflict together, assured that the wrongdoers will be severely punished, and claimed that his government has been attempting to find a resolution to the unfortunate sectarian conflict in Manipur.
Lapsing into whataboutery, Modi recalled multiple incidents where the Congress allegedly fuelled conflicts in the north-eastern states, bungled economic growth, and promoted sectarian politics, even as he spoke about how India and its institutions are shining under his leadership.
Also read: In a 2-Hour-Long Speech in Parliament, PM Modi Spoke for Less Than 10 Minutes on Manipur
Yet, even as he spoke about his achievements, the prime minister contrasted them with the Congress governments. He trained his guns primarily at Gandhi and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), the 26 party opposition front, even while speaking about Manipur.
Modi, like all the BJP MPs and ministers, made it a point to call INDIA as “I.dot, N.dot, D.dot…”, and referred to the opposition alliance mostly as “ghamandiya” to claim the front was power-hungry and arrogant.
“Yeh ghamandiya gathbandhan parivaarvaad ki rajniti ka sabse bada pratibimb hai (This ghamandiya alliance is the biggest reflection of dynasty politics),” the prime minister said.
“Avishwaas and ghamand inke ragon mein bas gaya hai (Disbelief and arrogance are now running in their veins),” the prime minister said about the Congress, alleging that the grand old party only believed in perpetuating “negativity”. He added that despite the fact that people of the country supported him and his government, the Congress can’t see the reality as it did not trust the country’s ability and grit.
Modi then went on to talk about some of the contradictions of INDIA. He pointed out how in states like West Bengal and Kerala, two INDIA constituents Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had historically opposed each other. He added that socialists who build their respective parties by opposing the Congress have now joined hands with the latter. He also claimed that the Dravidian party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and some other INDIA constituents did not think that Tamil Nadu was a part of India at all.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi’s Speech: An Alliance Leader Steering the Ideological Beliefs of INDIA
Modi’s attempt to signal that the INDIA was a coming together of opportunistic parties to defeat the BJP in his response to the no-trust motion only betrayed the seriousness with which the BJP is looking at the opposition front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The constant attempt to run down the INDIA bloc by pointing out its internal contradictions – many of which have already been discussed by the opposition parties in their last two meetings – Modi made it clear that the BJP isn’t casual about the opposition front’s electoral prospects, despite the prime minister’s frequent claims that the saffron party is well on its way to form a government for the third consecutive term.
Modi also displayed the BJP’s understanding that the Congress is the core of the INDIA bloc and that the grand old party must be derailed, attacked, and even demonised ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress will be locked in a direct contest with the BJP in around 180-odd Lok Sabha seats, and is hopeful of improving its performance with the support of its allies.
The prime minister’s speeches in the parliament have increasingly become an opportunity for him to attack the Congress, even as he has skirted the debates in focus. He avoided answering the opposition’s questions about the US-based Hindenburg Research’s report that the Adani group may have committed financial fraud even when he spoke last in both the Houses during the Motion of Thanks debate earlier this year.
The opposition then was demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe against allegations made by the US-based financial firm. On every such occasion, the prime minister has made it a pattern to skirt the issues in focus, and instead make ad hominem attacks on the opposition parties.
If the opposition MPs were shouting “Modani” during the prime minister’s last two speeches in parliament, they were shouting “Manipur, Manipur” as Modi spoke on Thursday. The opposition eventually walked out of the House in protest after Modi hadn’t touched upon the Manipur issue nearly two hours into his speech.
The prime minister’s singular focus on the Congress during his speech wasn’t surprising, given the pattern he has shown during his previous speeches. However, what surely came across as a little puzzling was Modi’s attempt to especially lash out at Rahul Gandhi and each of his allegations he made a day ago. The recently reinstated Congress leader may have indeed touched a raw nerve.