New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday speaking in the Rajya Sabha in an indirect reference to Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had "shielded" someone who should have borne the brunt of the party's poor performance in the recent general elections.
PM Modi alleged that the Gandhi family pushes forward other leaders, usually a Dalit or an OBC, to take the blame whenever the party does poorly so that the "family" remains safe.
"With these election results, not only a jump in the capital market is being seen but there is also an atmosphere of joy across the world...Amid this, Congress people are also happy. I can't understand the reason for this joy...Is this joy for the hattrick of loss? Is this joy for falling to nervous 90? Is this joy for another failed launch?..
The Prime Minister was replying to the debate on 'motion of thanks' on the President's address in the Rajya Sabha. "I saw even Kharge ji to be full of energy. But perhaps Kharge ji served his party a lot because he shielded someone who should have borne the brunt of the Congress's loss in the Lok Sabha polls, he stood like a wall instead..." the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said that a case in point of the Gandhi family pushing forward an OBC leader as a scapegoat was that of Kerala MP K Suresh whom the Congress fielded for the post of the Speaker in the lower house of Parliament despite knowing that he would face defeat. " ... Whenever such a situation arises, a Dalit and Backward have to bear the brunt and that family remains safe. The same was seen here too. You would have seen the issue of Lok Sabha Speaker, there too their defeat was certain but who did they push forward? A Dalit. They knew that he will lose, still he was fielded,"
The Prime Minister criticized the Congress and said that it has an "anti-SC/ST/OBC" mindset. "In the President and Vice President elections, in 2022 they fielded Sushil Kumar Shinde; let the Dalit lose, they have nothing to lose. In 2017, when the defeat was certain, they fielded Meira Kumar...Congress has an anti-SC/ST/OBC mindset due to which, they kept humiliating former President Ram Nath Kovind. With this mindset, they left no stone unturned in insulting the first tribal woman President of the country and used words they no one else can", the Prime Minister said.
On June 26, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Om Birla was elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker for the second time in a row after the motion moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was adopted by the House through a voice vote. The opposition, which had named K Suresh as the Speaker candidate of the INDIA bloc did not press for a division vote.
Suresh was nominated for the post of LS speaker after the opposition bloc did not receive any clarity on the post of Deputy Speaker, which it had been pressing for. Meanwhile, earlier today, as the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha began, the House condoled the loss of lives in the stampede incident which occurred at a 'Satsang' in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh.
Rajya Sabha LoP Kharge called on the government to enact legislation aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future.