The discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address began in the Lok Sabha on Monday (1st July 2024).

BJP leader Anurag Thakur initiated the debate by listing various achievements of the NDA government in the last 10 years in different sectors, including economy, agriculture and social empowerment.

Thakur said the Lok Sabha elections have kept those against the Constitution in the opposition benches for a third time and took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, saying he was enjoying power without responsibility till he became the Leader of Opposition in the House.

While congratulating Gandhi on becoming the Leader of Opposition, Thakur said the Congress leader now has power with responsibility and absentee leadership will not work.

The person who was used to bunking, would he be able to sit in the House till late as the prime minister does, Thakur said attacking Gandhi, noting that he is not in the House even now. Gandhi later made his debut speech as the Leader of Opposition.

Taking a jibe at the Congress, he said they have been adamant on proving that 99 is more than 240, said referring to the tally of the Congress and BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections. He said when a party sets such low standards, it finds even poor performance overwhelming.

Thakur said when the UPA won in 2004, the Congress had 145 seats and BJP had 138. There was a difference of only seven seats. It still formed the government, and ran it for five years and the BJP did not protest. In 2009 the Congress had 206 seats while the BJP got 282 seats in 2014, he said.

As opposition parties could not face Modi, so they formed an alliance with those in jail and those on bail, he said in an apparent reference to the INDIA bloc.

Taking a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said there is a leader who used to claim he was the most honest person. People have heard of work from home but they have shown how to work from jail. He came out for campaigning and went back to Tihar, the BJP leader said in a dig at Kejriwal.

He also attacked the INDIA bloc, saying the parties that protested against the Emergency and whose governments in states were toppled by the previous Congress governments at the Centre have joined their alliance Thakur said.

Lalu Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav had been jailed during the Emergency but their parties are now in alliance with the Congress.

Thakur also said India was once a fragile economy but in the last 10 years, the country has become the world’s fifth-largest and also the fastest-growing economy in the world. There was economic failure, crony capitalism and scams during the Congress rule while there have been no charges of corruption against Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in the last 10 years, Thakur said.

He also highlighted the massive increase in the amount of money spent on purchasing grains from farmers on minimum support prices during the Modi government compared to the figures in the UPA government.

Gandhi’s debut speech as the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha was marred by din and protests from treasury benches as he cited teachings of different religions and alleged in a swipe at the BJP that those who call themselves. A particular religion is engaged in violence and spreading hate round the clock.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose in protest saying that calling particular religion society violent is a serious matter.

Rahul Gandhi retorted saying that the BJP, the RSS and Modi are not that particular religious society.

Responding to this, Home Minister Amit Shah sought the Congress leader’s apology to the House and the country for hurting the feelings of crores of people who take pride in identifying themselves as this particular religion.

Amit Shah spoke of the Emergency and 1984 anti-Sikhs riots to hit back at Gandhi, saying he has no right to talk about non-violence when the Congress had spread terror in the country.

An ideology steeped in terrorising people was spread during the Emergency while hundreds of Sikhs were killed in 1984, Shah said, accusing Gandhi of making several factually incorrect statements and seeking the Chair’s intervention to take corrective measures.

In his speech Gandhi criticised the Agnipath scheme, alleging it treated youngsters as use and throw labourers. The agniveers do not get pensions and those sacrifice their lives on duty are not treated as martyrs, he said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh rose to counter Gandhi’s allegations, describing them as false and misleading. The agniveers who lay down their lives are given a compensation of one crore rupees, he told the House.

Speaker Om Birla repeatedly asked Gandhi to stick to parliamentary rules while making reference to various issues and people. He also objected to the Congress leader displaying a picture of Lord Shiva in the House.

Gandhi said Lord Shiva’s message is about fearlessness and non-violence. He also cited the teachings of other religions to make a similar point.

He accused the BJP of launching systematic attacks on the Constitution and the fundamental idea of India, noting that millions of people have resisted the ideas proposed by the ruling party.

Gandhi said he was attacked on the orders of Prime Minister Modi. There were 20-plus cases against him and his house was taken away, he said.

Despite these challenges, he said he feels proud of the collective effort to protect the Constitution.

In her maiden address in the Lok Sabha, Bansuri Swaraj of BJP slammed the opposition, saying its members are creating a constitutional crisis in Delhi because Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is adamant that he will not leave his chair and run the government from jail.

Swaraj talked about various schemes launched by the Narendra Modi government in the last 10 years and said while several countries are struggling with wars, India is heading towards becoming the third-largest economy in the world.

She said the pathbreaking initiatives helped the NDA win a majority for a third term. The opposition, which imposed Emergency and murdered democracy, the same opposition members are creating a constitutional crisis in Delhi because Arvind Kejriwal is adamant that he will not leave the chair and run the government from jail, she said.

The daughter of former Union minister Sushma Swaraj said it was her mother’s wish to have 33-per cent reservation for women in Parliament.

She said she is happy that the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled this desire in the 17th Lok Sabha.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today named a panel of chairpersons to help him run the House proceedings. Birla named Jagdambika Pal, PC Mohan, Sandhya Rai, Dilip Saikia, A Raja, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Krishna Prasad, and Avdhesh Prasad.

The panel of chairpersons preside over the House proceedings when the Speaker is not in the Chair. They enjoy all powers vested in the Speaker.

The 18th Lok Sabha was constituted recently following the recent parliamentary elections. Opposition members have demanded a separate one-day discussion on the NEET paper leak issue in the Lok Sabha and staged a walkout after they sought a clear assurance from the government on the issue.

Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of irregularities in NEET soon after the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, prompting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to assert that it will be against norms as separate discussion cannot be held till the House completes the motion of thanks on the president’s address.

Speaker Om Birla said there was no convention of taking up any other discussion during the debate on the motion of thanks and members can give separate notices for the discussion on NEET. Opposition members were on their feet as the speaker called on BJP member Anurag Thakur to initiate the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.

Opposition members continued to insist on a categorical assurance from the government on having a separate discussion on NEET and staged a walkout.

Prime Minister Modi said the Constitution has taught him to take the Leader of Opposition seriously, in a clear jibe at Gandhi whose some claims were criticised as false and misleading by different ministers, including Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bhupender Yadav , Kiren Rijiju besides Shah and Singh.

In her speech, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra alleged that she was expelled from the previous Lok Sabha at the behest of the government.

However, she might have lost her membership but gained freedom of not fearing the government and its agencies, she said.

While she has been elected to the House again, the BJP’s tally fell by 63 in the elections, she said. She accused the government of harassing states ruled by opposition parties.