It is the last budget session of the Modi government before the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have already set his eyes on it. Displaying an aggression usually reserved for election rallies, Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress recounting the political events of the past to corner the opposition party.
Displaying superior lung power, Modi gave a 90-minute speech in Lok Sabha, followed by a speech in the Rajya Sabha. In both speeches, he targeted the Congress. What made Prime Minister even more aggressive was the fact that MPs from Andhra Pradesh were shouting against the government for lack of funds in the Budget.
Earlier, BJP chief Amit Shah, in his debut speech in Rajya Sabha, had castigated the Congress as he recounted the achievements of the government.
Shah spoke for 90 minutes touching upon all political issues even referred to the Congress' pakoda jibe and Rahul Gandhi calling GST as gabbar singh tax.
But his speech resulted in heated exhanges between the ruling party and the opposition, as the latter repeatedly interrupted his speech. By convention, first time MPs are not given a time limit for their debut speech and are neither interrupted. But Chairman Venkaiah Naidu had to intervene and remind the opposition benches about the norms.
The congress leaders contended that even by convention debut speeches are not that combative.
Later Congress and leaders of other opposition parties like Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party accused of giving all the time to Shah on Rajya Sabha TV, as their speeches were ignored. “Don't turn Rajya Sabha TV into BJP TV," said leader of opposition Ghulam Nabhi Azad. Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien also alleged that his speech was blacked out.
Both Modi and Shah, in their speeches, chose to raise statements and issues which had occurred outside the Parliament to attack the Congress. This made observers to remark that both leaders had elections in the their mind.
Interestingly, in 2013, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said, while replying during the motion of thanks to President's Address, that the Congress will win the next elections and thus signalling that during the last year governments tend to go into election mode.
Another significant aspect of that speech was the exchange of Urdu couplets between Singh and the then leader of Opposition of Sushma Swaraj. "Humko hai unse wafa ke umeed, jo jante nai hai wafa kya hai (We are expecting loyalty from those who don't know the meaning of the word)". Swaraj retorted, "Kuch toh majboorian rahee hongi, yun hee koi bewafa nahee hota (there must have been some compulsions, nobody becomes disloyal for no reason)."
But five years down the line, the exchange between the government and the opposition is more acerbic, often spilling over to personal relations between the leaders.
During the current session, Modi also recited a couplet by Bashir Badr in a reply to the Congress' Malikarjun Kharge. Kharge, a day earlier had quoted Badr, "Dushmani jamkar karo lekin ye gunjaish rahe, jab kabhi hum dost ho jaayen toh sharminda naa ho (as enemies be fierce, but take care when we became friends, we are not embarrassed.)” Responding to Kharge's attack, Modi quoted the same poet, "Jee bahut chahta hai sach bolein, kya karein haunsla nahi hota (there is a strong urge to tell the truth, but there is not enough courage).”
Modi reserved the first part of his speech to attack the Congress, it is only later he talked about achievements of his government.
Both Modi and Shah have been aggressive inside and outside the Parliament. They respond with equal measure to any criticism hurled their way. Modi in his speech during the motion of thanks to the President's address in Rajya Sabha had been equally scathing as he accused former PM Manmohan Singh of 'taking bath wearing raincoat', a jibe implying Singh was not affected by corruption allegations in his tenure.
Modi's speech in the Parliament is also aimed at a wider audience outside. The stinging attack on the Congress, invoking events from the past, is aimed at keeping the public memory alive.
The Parliament session will go on a month long break from Friday to reassemble in March. With elections to three states in the North East coming up and the campaign in Karnataka going full swing, more fireworks can be expected.
