New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Monday launched a blistering attack on the BJP-led NDA government in his first speech as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha while responding on the Motion of Thanks to President Droupadi Murmu’s address.
With a copy of the Constitution that he showed several times during his address, along with pictures of religious figures such as Lord Shiva, Gandhi attacked the BJP “for spreading violence and hatred” and also criticised the government on a host of issues.
Gandhi’s speech drew sharp reactions from the treasury benches. Here is what he said on five key issues:
‘Agniveer treated as use & throw labourer’
Talking about the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment, the Congress MP voiced his disapproval of the treatment of soldiers under the programme. He highlighted the case of an Agniveer who died in a landmine blast but was not honoured as a martyr by the government.
“One Agniveer lost his life in a landmine blast but is not recognised as a ‘martyr’… Agniveer is treated as a ‘use-and-throw labourer’,” he said, criticising the temporary nature of the positions and the perceived lack of respect for the sacrifices of these soldiers.
‘NEET is designed for rich and not meritorious’
Bringing up the NEET issue in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi criticised the medical entrance exam, calling it a “commercial exam” rather than a “professional one”.
“Students appearing for or preparing for NEET do not believe in the exam because they are convinced it is designed for wealthy people and not for meritorious individuals. It creates a quota for the rich and a pathway for them to enter the system, rather than helping poor students,” Gandhi asserted.
He spoke of “institutional failure” to address these disparities, called for a debate on the matter and appealed for assistance to resolve issues related to the exam.
‘Manipur is burning because of your politics’
Gandhi brought up Manipur, criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the ethnic violence there.
“PM Modi hasn’t spoken about or visited Manipur even once. The government is neglecting the state as if there’s no civil war there, behaving as if it’s not part of India,” he stated.
He further alleged that the BJP’s policies and politics had set Manipur ablaze and drove it towards civil war.
‘You called the farmers terrorists’
The Congress leader accused the Modi government of labelling farmers as “terrorists”.
“They cancelled the land acquisition bill for farmers. To intimidate the farmers, they introduced three laws, claiming they were for the farmers’ benefit, but they were only for the benefit of (Mukesh) Ambani and (Gautam) Adani,” he said.
While mentioning that roads are still blocked near the Haryana border, where the farmers sat on protest against the farm laws which were later repealed, Gandhi criticised the PM for “not meeting and hugging the farmers, but instead calling them terrorists”.
‘Full-scale assault on the idea of India’
The Congress MP accused the BJP-led central government of carrying out a “systematic attack” on India’s constitutional values and those defending them. He alleged that numerous leaders opposing this assault had been imprisoned and claimed that he himself was targeted.
“There has been a systematic and full-scale assault on the idea of India, the Constitution and on the people who resisted the attack on the Constitution. Many of us were personally attacked. Some of the leaders are still in jail,” he said.
“I was personally targeted on the Prime Minister’s orders. There were over 20 cases against me, my house was taken away, and I was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate for 55 hours,” Gandhi added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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