PM Modi isn’t one of the most popular Prime Ministers of India for nothing. His sharp political skills, acerbic wit and his instant connection with the masses are a few of his immense qualities very few leaders in India, whether in the past or today, have been able to match up to. Needless to say, his personality was once again put to test, when he came forward to present the speech of ‘motion of thanks’, with respect to the President’s Address to Lok Sabha, as well as the Rajya Sabha.
It appeared that Congress walked into the parliament with a plan and it was simple – Not to allow Prime Minister Modi to speak. It seemed like a big role-playing game. Some MPs were allocated the task of sloganeering, some of jeering, some of just shouting listlessly. Renuka Chowdhary however did what she does the best – Laugh incessantly and deafeningly. But PM Modi seemed to have a plan of his own. He liked an ascetic cut off from the din of the restive world, simply went on speaking. He didn’t just defeat the Congress’s plan of not allowing him to speak, he defeated them on every single count.
Amongst incessant heckling, jeering and booing, led by the members of the main opposition party, i.e. Congress [I], PM Modi not only emerged as a winner, but also gave an example of his acerbic wit, making a dig at his detractors where it hit them the hardest.
Though some extra hard-working brains may attribute it to the strategic plans for the upcoming Assembly elections, PM Modi in reality hit back at those people in style, who were accusing him of giving wind to unlawful activities, and paving roads for their hilarious nightmares of ‘fascism and Nazism.’
Irritated by the continuous heckling of Congress MPs in Lok Sabha, PM Modi hit out harshly at them in Lok Sabha, exposing their hypocritical stand on democracy being in danger, and reminding them of the dark days that the party members had thrust upon India in the name of promoting one family as the ‘sole ruler of India.’ To quote him, “Ye democracy ki baat aap ke mooh mein shobha nahin deti (Talk of democracy ill-suits you)”.
Further, he went out all guns blazing on Congress with the issue of stalling the Triple Talaq Bill, on the grounds of the accused Muslim men suffering in jails. He counterattacked with his prime favorite weapon: minority appeasement. To quote him, “………saying a strange argument is being put forward that men of a certain community will go to jail and this will hurt their families. He said, Hindu men too go to jail for offenses and there might be some discomfort for that reason.”
Such irrefutable facts, laced with earthy wit and sarcasm, would obviously not go down well with Congress, who gave it their all in Rajya Sabha, to stop PM Modi from having his say. The heckling that he suffered in Lok Sabha became more desperate than genuine, and PM Modi found it quite tough to make his voice heard in the raucous din. Despite the frantic appeals of the House Chairman, i.e. India’s Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, the Congress members were just not ready to budge, with their constant booring and jeering dominating most of the part of PM Modi’s speech.
Congress MP Renuka Chowdhary, notorious for her heckling of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, tried to do the same with her loud laughs. Irked by her stance, Mr. Naidu, the Chairman, asked her to stop, when Narendra Modi cut loose, and gave a lesson to Mrs. Chowdhary for life. He said, ‘”SabhapatiJi meri aapse vinti hai Renuka Ji ko kuch mat kahiye. Ramayan serial ke baad aisi hansi sunne ka saubhagya aaj jaake mila hai. (Chairman Sir, I request you to not say anything to Renukaji. After Ramayan serial, we have got the privilege of hearing this kind of laughter today)”, which left most of the Rajya Sabha in splits.
To be truthful, PM Modi has it hard with his motion of thanks speech and exposed the ‘rowdy approach’ of the Congress, almost synonymous to the tactics the Communists used in the state of Bengal to suppress any voice of dissent. With this effective comeback, PM Modi has also proved that he’s no pushover; he is a focused speaker who can effectively nullify the din that is raised in the background in order to keep his voice mum. If only Congress learnt this simple thing.