After portions of Rahul Gandhi’s fiery speech during a debate on Motion of Thanks on President’s address were expunged from Parliamentary records, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha asserted that “truth can be expunged in Modi’s world, but not in reality”.
“In Modi ji’s world, truth can be expunged. But in reality, the truth can’t be expunged. I said what I had to say, that is the truth. They can expunge as much as they want. Truth is truth,” Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament on Tuesday.
In a no-holds-barred attack on the BJP and RSS, Gandhi on Monday claimed that those who call themselves Hindus, talk about violence, hatred and untruth.
“All our great men have spoken about non-violence…but those who, call themselves Hindu, only talk about violence, hatred and untruth…Aap Hindu ho hi nahi…,” the Congress leader said in a spirited 90-minute address during the debate.
The Prime Minister, who was present in the House, responded to his remarks, and said that “calling the entire Hindu community violent is a serious matter.”
Gandhi countered him saying, “Narendra Modi ji is not the entire Hindu community, the BJP is not the entire Hindu community, the RSS is not the entire Hindu community.”
Gandhi displayed a copy of the Constitution and photos of religious icons, including Lord Shiva, Prophet Mohammed, and Guru Nanak Singh during his speech.
His remarks triggered a massive controversy with the BJP accusing him of insulting the Hindu community and demanding an apology. Besides PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh countered strongly to Rahul Gandhi’s arguments.
However, the Opposition’s INDIA bloc defended the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, saying he raised the real issues concerning the people of the country and that his Hindu remark exposed the BJP.
“It looked like the government was playing the role of opposition. Psychologically, they are considering themselves a failure and they are constantly interrupting LoP (Rahul Gandhi)…They are trying to twist his remarks…BJP and RSS use the Hindu religion for political reasons…Hindu religion teaches brotherhood, love…,” Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said.
Samajwadi Party MP from Ayodhya, Awadhesh Prasad, also defended the Congress leader, saying what the latter said wasn’t said for the Hindu community and meant for the BJP.
“So far as I know, so far as I heard, he didn’t mean that for the entire Hindu community. Maybe, he meant that for the people of BJP. But it wasn’t for the entire Hindu community. Hindu community has a glorious history, a glorious tradition…He had no ill-intent towards Hindus…It is the right of the Speaker that the words that were not in accordance with the traditions and Constitution can be expunged,” he said.