Enraged by his ‘raincoat jibe’ against Manmohan Singh, the Congress on Thursday announced that it will boycott Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament during the entire budget session and will try to bring on board other opposition parties too.
“We will boycott the prime minister. We will not listen to him, but we will not assault the dignity of the office of the prime minister. At the same time, we will continue to protest, we know that he is an obdurate person.
“It is sad that we have an arrogant person who occupies the chair of the PM. He has demeaned his office repeatedly by his choice of words and language,” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters.
The Congress this morning held a strategy meet of opposition parties including the Janata Dal-United, the Left, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Samajwadi Party over the issue.
Sharma claimed that the other parties too will join them.
Asked if the boycott will be for this Session alone, he said this is a long session and the opposition parties will meet in the inter-session period.
“Now we have gone into recess and we will be coordinating our position very closely. Do not worry, let us meet again on March 9 in Parliament.
“This story which the Prime Minister has scripted, we will be concluding. That final chapter will be written by us and the prime minister must note that. I am making it very clear.
“He has started the first chapter, we will write the last chapter on this subject,” Sharma said, giving out a virtual threat to the ruling dispensation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had yesterday mocked his predecessor Manmohan Singh while replying to a debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Rajya Sabha, saying one should learn the art of ‘bathing with a raincoat on’ from him as there was not a single taint on him despite so many scams taking place during his regime.
Congress had yesterday taken strong exception to the ‘raincoat’ jibe and staged a walkout and demanded an apology from him. The Congress also disrupted the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday and protested in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress leader said the Prime Minister ‘is intolerant to criticism. He lives in denial. He is also arrogant. He has lowered the dignity of office repeatedly and has used language which is unacceptable in political debates’.
“He has dragged the political debates to unacceptable depths. We have been urging the PM to desist from doing this. But, he relishes using foul languages and insulting the Opposition,” he said.
“The Congress party consciously took this decision because we could not be sitting there as he was abusing our leaders, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh without any provocation from him, and insulted the memory of Indira Gandhi, who was martyred,” he said.
Sharma said Modi violated the rules of business and ethics of the House and breached the privileges of members, as Manmohan Singh is a sitting member and the prime minister could not have said anything against him without informing him and bringing a substantive motion.
This, he said, has been pointed out on Thursday.
“This must be understood. We know what the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is saying that we have disrespected the PM. The prime minister has insulted Indian democracy in Parliament and we cannot accept what he has done,” he said.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Congress leader P Chidambaram said United States President Donald Trump had said some of the most outrageous things in his campaign.
“But the day he was sworn in as President, how did he begin his speech? He said, ‘My fellow Americans, President Obama, President Clinton, President Carter, President Bush and millions of people who have gathered here’. That is the respect you have to show,” he said.
Chidambaram noted that every prime minister would, one day, become an ex-prime minister and that is the law of nature.
“I think, the prime minister owes it to this House to say -- at least, he should say – that he did not mean any disrespect to Dr Manmohan Singh, and that if it is construed as derogatory language, he unhesitatingly withdraws those words that he has said, and then he could go on talking about policies and programmes and, criticism of our various decisions. That is perfectly legitimate,” he said.
Party MP Shashi Tharoor said Modi should apologise and said such remarks are ‘unheard of in Indian parliamentary democracy’.
“We are very, very disappointed by what the PM said yesterday (on Wednesday). I do not think in the history of Indian parliamentary democracy, we have ever heard the PM insulting his predecessor in such a manner using bathroom analogy. This is simply not heard of (before),” he said outside Parliament.
Seeking withdrawal of the statement, he said, “In politics, there can be differences but you will never find this kind of statement in our parliamentary debate. PM should withdraw such remarks. There are political differences in our country. In election campaign, people say rude things to each other. But in the House, certain decorum must be maintained. We feel strongly that it should not have happened.”
“We have asked for an apology because he has not withdrawn it so far. If he withdraws it, then the matter will end. But if he does not withdraw, then apology is the only way in which he can make up for the hurt he has caused unnecessarily,” the former Union minister said.
Sharma accused Modi of deliberately provoking the opposition by using such language that was ‘unbecoming of a prime minister’.
“The manner in which the PM has conducted his own speeches, the kind of language that he has used and the fact that he has deliberately provoked and targeted the Opposition. It is unbecoming of the prime minister when he calls the opposition parties ‘SCAM’.
“Giving an impression that he alone and his party alone represent the correct values and integrity required in Indian democracy. We condemn it,” he said.
Sharma said the Congress in Rajya Sabha was conscious of the office of the prime minister, not the person occupying that position, and chose to walk out rather than prevent him from speaking on Wednesday.
“The BJP in the past prevented Dr Manmohan Singh from speaking. We did not prevent the prime minister from speaking as he was engaged in vitriolic abuse and misleading the people,” he said.
Sharma alleged that Modi has injected ‘bitterness in the political narrative’.
“He has used language which is unacceptable in political debates. He has also dragged political debate to unacceptable low depths.
“We have been repeatedly urging the Prime Minister to desist from doing this but it is very clear that he actually relishes using foul language, insulting and berating the political opposition,” he said.
Sharma said the prime minister ‘does not have humility’ and has not indicated that he will reflect and correct the course by either withdrawing his words ‘insulting’ Indira Gandhi based upon a ‘fabricated report’.
“There are many books written on Narendra Modi which are available...but we have not quoted from the book. He is lying to defend himself,” he said, adding that his party respects parliamentary tradition and ‘that shows the difference between the Congress and the BJP’.
“It is now for the people to judge where the country is heading with this kind of mindset and the kind of lies being peddled. I am not comfortable using this word but I am constrained to do so...I cannot even say that they are moving away from truth, what is lie is a lie and prime minister does so with aplomb,” he said.
On the question of any Privilege Motion against the Union finance minister for his remarks that there was no shortage of cash for a single day, Sharma said already some members have taken it up.
“Either he has to correct his statement which ministers are allowed and I hope that the finance minister who understands the parliamentary rules and privileges will correct that wrong statement of his," he said.
Sharma also alleged that the finance minister’s intervention in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday was necessitated as the prime minister despite conveying to the chairman that he will come at 4.30 pm, did not appear.
“He sent a message that he will only start from his office after the deputy leader of Congress sits down. It is very clear because he is uncomfortable with criticism.... If there is disrespect and insult, it is coming from his side not from us,” he said.
