- Written By: Viki mahato
Rajniti Axom (www.rajnitiaxom.com is Assam’s 1st e-magazine explicitly for politics)
”You have hate in your hearts for me, you can call me ‘Pappu’ and hurl choice abuses at me, but in my heart, I have no hate for you,” This is what Rahul Gandhi said just before he went over to hug prime minister Modi. After sometime, cameras caught Rahul winking at his colleague.
For next few days, the entire national media was busy discussing and analyzing these 2 incidents. Not too many discussed the content of the speech given by all political leaders during the debate of no confidence motion though. Many political leaders like Mohamad Selim, Rajnath Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Dinesh Trivedi, Tariq Anwar, Ram vilas Paswan etc. took part in the debate. From Assam, only Badaruddin Ajmal got a chance to put forward his views. In a speech which lasted for 3 minutes, Mr Ajmal tried to touch many important points related to Assam like NRC, detention camp, closure of paper mill etc. Badaruddin Ajmal did not use any tough word against the government. We have to appreciate his efforts as a lone solider from Assam during the no-confidence motion.
What Other Leaders said?
We heard regional issues mostly from other parties barring Congress and BJP. Telegu Desam who brought the no confidence motion was unhappy for not giving ‘special category’ status to Andhra Pradesh. They continued protest during the speech of prime minister also. Jayadev Galla who spoke from Telegu Desam was very critical of both BJP and Congress. “The BJP is deceiving us and colluding with rival parties in Andhra Pradesh. YSRCP MPs are on the guest list and the TDP on the blacklist,” Jayadev said. Asaduddin Owaisi talked about the plight of Muslims where Farooq Abdullah talked about Kashmir issue. Ramdas Athawle tried to entertain the law makers with his poetry skills. Even Modi was smiling.
Rahul Gandhi’s Speech:
In his 40 minutes speech, Rahul touched on many topics. We have seen tremendous improvement in the way he delivered his speech. He looks more matured as a speaker now. He was taking pauses before a punch line. There were more claps during his speech compared to his earlier speeches. He raised many important issues like unemployment, black money, Doklam, Rafale deal etc. Rahul named 2 crore job promise, demonetization etc. as his Jhumla politics. All of these issues carried weight except Rafale and GST. He told that UPA government was determined to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) during its tenure and that the party was to bring only one rate of GST and petrol and diesel were to be included within the ambit of the GST. This is totally impractical in a developing country like India. You can’t levy tax on Mercedes and footwear at the same rate. With respect to Rafale, he alleged that there is no secret pact between India and France and he confirmed that with the France government. However France government immediately issued a statement that there was indeed a secrecy pact signed between India and France on Rafale in 2008 when UPA was in power. Political analysts praised Rahul for the hug gesture but at the same time criticized him for the wink. Overall it was a better performance from Rahul.
Modi’s speech:
Modi, known for his oratory skills spoke for more than an hour. He talked about Congress party’s arrogance, its history of electoral despotism and disruption, its pessimism and lust for power. He also spoke about his government’s achievements like toilets, electricity, roads, improvement of financial condition of country and improvement of weaker section of the society. He very well explained the current crisis of Andhra Pradesh. Congress for its political gains bifurcated Andhra Pradesh but there was no proper plan in place. In the contrary when Atal Bihari Vajpayee led government created 3 new states Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chattisgarh, there were no issues. While Modi delivered a good political speech he dodged many important questions from Rahul Gandhi. For example , he did not have any comprehensive answer for unemployment and his 2 crore job promise each year. He gave the number of doctors, CAs passing out each year and assumed that they have employed 3-5 people each. There is no clarity and it was totally based on assumption. There was no proper answer on Doklam either. Like a seasoned politician, Modi twisted his reply on Rahul’s allegation on Jhumla politics. He came down heavily on Congress for terming surgical strike as Jhumla strike. Actually Rahul never told surgical strike as Jhumla strike in his 40 minutes speech.
To sum up, the 16 hour long debate in Lok sabha on 20th July 2018 was a rehearsal for 2019 elections. There was never a threat to the Government which won by 2 third majority. There was a speculation that Modi will rule the print and electronic media during weekend after the Friday’s no confidence motion. Rahul denied it. We have to give credit to Rahul for scripting the famous hug. He stole the limelight. Many compared him with Croatia who could not win the football world cup but won hearts.
