Uproar over 'caste' remark
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: August 02, 2024 -

WITH a resurgent Opposition firmly in place, proceedings of the Indian Parliament session are becoming a real feast for the eyes as well as ears even for people who don't have any interest in politics at all.

There are dramas, filmi dialogues, endless literary quotations, etc., to entertain everyone.

Unlike in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's last two terms, which enjoyed a relatively free run in the Parliament, there is so much going on during the sessions of both houses of the Parliament today that one does not need to press the remote-control buttons for switching the TV channels when there is debate between the Opposition and Treasury benches over any issue or non-issue.

When the first session of the Parliament after the 18th Lok Sabha election was held from June 24 to July 3, Opposition leaders were seen leveraging their oratory skills to the hilt with barbs, wit, and sarcasm in targeting the NDA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Leading the brigade of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi made sure to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi at every given opportunity, which was something remotely possible in the previous two terms.

Without blinking an eye, he even ridiculed Prime Minister Modi's claim of a "divine connection" and when Speaker Om Birla intervened, Rahul Gandhi nonchalantly pointed out that he was merely referencing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own words from a TV interview given in Varanasi, where he had stated, "God has sent me...I am convinced I am not born biologically."

Similar scenes were also witnessed in the Rajya Sabha. When chairman Jagdeep Dhankar intervened from speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the Congress and its allies in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) of performing "mujra" (pandering) for vote banks during an election rally in Bihar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was quick to remind the House, "These are the words of the Prime Minister".

The new avatar of the Opposition is continuing even more aggressively in the current budget session of the Parliament, which began on July 22 and is scheduled to conclude on August 12.

Congress and its opposition allies are tearing apart the Union Budget-2024-25 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23.

Terming the Rs 48.21 lakh crore worth budget, which was subsequently approved by a voice vote on Tuesday (July 30) as "kursi bachao budget", the opposition parties alleged several states have been ignored in the budget and the provisions were only made for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar to appease BJP's two key allies in these two states.

While this criticism is not without valid reason, the manner in which the Treasury bench has been trying to defend its position seems to have dragged itself into yet another needless controversy when Anurag Thakur, its MP from Hamirpur's Himachal Pradesh, took a veiled jibe at Congress and Rahul Gandhi over the issue of caste census.

His seemingly innocuous "one whose caste is not known is talking about the census" remark has led to an uproar that is not likely to calm down anytime soon.

Even though Anurag Thakur did not name anyone in his remark, it needs no rocket science to understand who he was referring to.

So, Rahul Gandhi has made the agenda of his party and other partners in INDIA bloc clear when he said in the Lok Sabha, "You can insult me as much as you want, but you should not forget that we will get the caste census bill passed in Parliament".

Caste census is one of the main issues which has helped Congress and its allies to resurrect in the 18th Lok Sabha election.

The treasury bench shouldn't have ignored and overlooked this fact.

However, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed the 'expunged' remark made by his fellow BJP MP along with posting an unedited video clip on his social media handle, it is not going to be easy for the saffron party to come out of the mess.