No longer should House be bulldozed, says Sonia at CPP meet, takes on Modi

New Delhi: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday launched a frontal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he suffered a “political and moral defeat” in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, and added that no longer should Parliament be “bulldozed like it has been for a decade” as she stressed that the writ of the ruling party “will no longer be permitted to disrupt Parliament, whimsically mistreat members or push through legislation without due and proper consideration” .

Addressing the newly elected party MPs in the Central Hall of the old Parliament, a day after the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) held its parliamentary party meeting at the same venue, Gandhi said Modi “had lost the right to leadership”.

“The Prime Minister who sought the mandate solely in his name to the exclusion of both his party and its allies has suffered a political and moral defeat. In reality, he has lost the mandate he sought and thereby lost the right to leadership as well. Yet, far from taking responsibility for failure he intends to get himself sworn in again tomorrow [Sunday]. We do not expect him to change the substance and style of his governance, nor take cognizance of the will of the people,” she said.

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The BJP won 240 seats in the general elections whose results were announced on Tuesday, stopping well short of the majority mark of 272. The Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) delivered an unexpectedly strong performance to restrict the BJP below its stated pre-poll target of 370. However, with allies such as the Janata Dal (United), Telugu Desam Party and Shiv Sena, and a clutch of smaller partners, the NDA is comfortably placed to form the government.

Gandhi, who was re-elected as the chairperson of the Congress’s Parliamentary Party for five years, urged the party MPs to hold the NDA government accountable. “As members of the CPP, we have a special obligation to be watchful, vigilant and proactive in holding him and his new NDA government accountable. No longer can and should Parliament be bulldozed like it has been for a decade now,” she added.

The Congress’s effective tally in the House stood at 100 after Sangli parliamentarian Vishal Patil extended his support to the party, further emboldening the Opposition bloc, which had 236 members.

“No longer can and should Parliamentary Committees be ignored or by-passed or stifled as it has been over the past ten years,” Gandhi said.

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Gandhi also reminded the new team of the Congress lawmakers of their duties amid signs of heightened confrontation between the government and the Opposition in the 18th Lok Sabha.

“In this election the people have voted decisively to reject the politics of divisiveness and authoritarianism. They have voted to strengthen parliamentary politics and safeguard our Constitution. They have voted for the agenda of economic and social justice. That indeed should continue to be our objective and guide,” she said.

The senior Congress leader said the party faced a tall task ahead as it had to “prevent any attempts to increase polarization and erosion of secular and democratic values enshrined in our Constitution by the ruling cabal”. She also argued that “This is a renewed opportunity for us as a party that established parliamentary democracy in our country to bring parliamentary politics back on track..”.

She highlighted the “resilience” demonstrated by the party in the polls and underlined that “it was up against a mighty and malevolent machine that was doing its utmost to destroy us” as she lauded party president Mallikarjun Kharge for his role in leading the party.

“It tried to cripple us financially. It carried out a campaign against us and our leaders that was full of lies and defamation. Many wrote our obituaries! But under the determined leadership of Kharge Ji we persevered,” she said.

Addressing the CPP, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi said the were committed to raise the demands of the people in Parliament.

“Our resolve to raise the voice of the people of India in Parliament with full force and to hold the government accountable at every step is strong,” he said.

In his speech, Kharge praised Sonia and added that “In the last 10 years, the rights of the opposition in Parliament were constantly limited. Be it asking questions, asking for time for discussion, sending bills to committees, drawing the attention of the government to burning issues, BJP created obstacles at every step.”

He added: “Modiji does not want the opposition to raise public issues in the House. He considers it an insult to answer the opposition’s questions. When Modiji was touching the Constitution to his forehead yesterday, he forgot how he had violated constitutional traditions in the last 10 years. He has weakened the Parliament and constitutional institutions. He has insulted them,” Kharge alleged.