Buoyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public endorsement of fellow MP Anurag Thakur’s speech and using social media to its advantage, the BJP went all out in its attack on Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. This came after the Congress created a ruckus in Parliament over Thakur’s remarks, which apparently questioned Gandhi’s caste, and persisted with their demand for conducting a caste census.
The BJP countered the Congress, which moved a privilege motion on the grounds that Modi’s encouragement of Thakur was a “serious breach of parliamentary privilege”. Taking the line that he did not take names, the saffron camp defended Thakur and said it does not see anything wrong with his speech.
“Jinki jaat ka pataa nahin, woh ganana ki baat karte hain (Whose caste is not known, they are talking about conducting a caste census),” Thakur said during his budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (July 30). His vicious attack against Gandhi triggered an ugly spat between the opposition and treasury benches.
‘Relax Jairam, don’t punch above your weight’
Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya took a swipe at Congress general secretary incharge, communications, Jairam Ramesh asking him not to “punch above your weight”. Calling Gandhi “third time fail”, he said the Congress should understand what goes around comes around as the LoP has a record of invoking caste in public.
“Relax Jairam, don’t punch above your weight. Here is Third Time Fail Rahul Gandhi’s track record of invoking caste in public. The Congress should understand what goes around, comes around. Now, disclose what is the caste of Balak Buddhi Rahul Gandhi, son of a Christian mother and a Parsi father. Or, after opposing reservation for OBCs, since 1950, is the caste rhetoric just meant to divide Hindus, for electoral gains?” Malviya wrote on X.
Relax Jairam, don’t punch above your weight. Here is Third Time Fail Rahul Gandhi’s track record of invoking caste in public. The Congress should understand what goes around, comes around. Now, disclose what is the caste of Balak Buddhi Rahul Gandhi, son of a Christian mother and… https://t.co/5Di2NA30sB pic.twitter.com/DIBYF1O8w1— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 31, 2024
Jairam Ramesh targeted Modi, who praised Thakur’s speech and said it was a “must hear”, on social media and called the BJP MP’s speech a “highly abusive and unconstitutional tirade”.
Tagging Modi’s post on X, he said, “This speech that the non-biological Prime Minister calls a ‘must hear’ is a highly abusive and unconstitutional tirade — and by sharing it, he has encouraged a serious breach of Parliamentary privilege.”
Another BJP leader Sambit Patra hit out at Gandhi for his arrogance and questioned why the leader has a problem when others ask about his caste. “Earlier privilege motion by the Congress was also against the PM when he had made a reference to Hamid Ansari’s tenure and said when he was the VP, things bent towards the other side. This time, Rahul Gandhi feels insulted over caste. When that uproar happened in Parliament, I was there. But, ever since this session started, such behaviour is shameful in the temple of democracy,” Patra said at a press conference.
“Anurag Thakur did not name anybody, so why only one person felt but nobody else? A few days ago, Rahul Gandhi was asking the caste of a journalist and about the caste of high court judges. You can ask someone else’s caste and if someone asks about yours, you say “mummy mummy”. He can ask about others and now you say this when nobody even named you. Rahul Gandhi has tried to raise questions on PM Modi’s caste as well in the past. Look at the way he comes to Parliament, with hands in his pocket; this is his arrogance reflecting in his body language,” Patra said.
Patra joined other BJP leaders like Rijiju in slamming the Congress for breaking decorum during parliamentary proceedings. “There are rules in Parliament; you can’t show photos but still he does that. You are insulting the chairman again and again. This is not your drawing room. This is the temple of democracy,” he added.
Earlier in the day, after the Lok Sabha was adjourned due to the ruckus made by the opposition, Rijiju asked if Gandhi was above Parliament. “Are they (opposition) above Parliament? Why can’t their caste be asked? They want to go around asking everyone’s caste but don’t want their caste to be asked,” he said.
He added: “I condemn what Congress has done, they keep talking about caste all the time… they ask the caste of media people and army personnel… Congress has hatched a conspiracy to divide the country based on caste… they want to weaken democracy and country’s economy, they want to spread anarchy and violence.”
What is the Congress saying?
A day after Thakur’s speech in Parliament, the opposition slammed his speech on the budget as an insult to Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, with the Congress claiming that the prime minister encouraged it by sharing it on his X handle. Upon protests from the opposition benches, the Chair, Jagadambika Pal, assured MPs that the comments will be expunged. The comments, however, have not been erased from the Parliament record.
After the uproar, Gandhi accused Thakur of insulting and abusing him during the debate but asserted that he would not seek any apology from the former Union minister. “Anurag Thakur insulted me and I don’t want any apology from him. Abuse or insult me as hard as you can but don’t forget we will pass the caste census in this Parliament for sure,” he said in the House.
“In a departure from all parliamentary norms — expunged comments are edited out of videos uploaded online — Sansad TV has uploaded the unedited speech, and the non-biological Prime Minister has shared and praised it publicly,” Ramesh said.
“This is a new and shameful low in the annals of India’s parliamentary history. It reflects the BJP-RSS and Mr. Modi’s deep-rooted casteism,” he alleged.
Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said the INDIA bloc protested inside the House against the “insensitive and cruel” remarks made by the BJP leaders during a discussion of the Budget with respect to the caste census.
“We know caste census is a very emotional issue and many people in India from the SC, ST and OBC category want the caste census but their demand was mocked by the BJP in Parliament. They were insulted by the BJP in Parliament and it is unfortunate that later in the evening, the PM shared that speech and praised that speech. He praised the speech that insulted the Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis. We are here fighting for their rights and fighting for caste census,” he said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also came down heavily on Thakur. “A socio-economic caste census is the demand of 80 per cent of the people of this country. Today, it was said in Parliament that those whose caste is not known talk about a caste census. Will 80 per cent of India’s population be abused in Parliament now? Narendra Modi should clarify whether this happened at his behest,” she said in a post on X.
