Priyanka Turns Silent Assassin in Maiden Lok Sabha Speech

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Priyanka Taunts BJP in Maiden Speech for Past Obsession

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, December 13: Union Minister for Defence Rajnath Singh set stage for the Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to debut in the parliamentary debate on Friday. Singh pepped up Vadra to seize the opportunity.

From the corner of the third row, Vadra rained blow after blow in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She didn’t raise her pitch to make arguments. Vadra was a story teller in her maiden speech.

“You keep talking of the Emergency. Why don’t you learn the lessons of imposing the Emergency. If you had learnt the lessons, you would not have made the people fear-stricken,” said Vadra.

Singh initiated discussion on commemoration of the 75 years of the promulgation of the Constitution in the Lok Sabha. “My mother died when I was jailed during the Emergency. I was not granted even parole for cremation of my mother,” said Singh.

Singh, who is also the deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, devoted his full speech on the discussion on Constitution bashing the Congress. He mentioned several cases of dismissal of the elected governments by the Congress dispensation at the Centre.

“Should I tell how many elected governments you have toppled by use of money power. What did you do in Maharashtra? What did you do in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka,” Vadra pointedly asked from Singh.

The Congress leader also said that while there are several burning issues before parliament, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last 15 days has been seen in the House only once and that too briefly”. Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah listened to Vadra’s maiden speech with visible attention.

The Congress leader faced no disruption in her speech as she avoided provoking the treasury benches with direct attacks on Modi. But she raised the issue of Adani while discussing the hardships faced by apple growers of Himachal Pradesh.

“One person, Adani, was given all the cold storages in Himachal Pradesh. It was not given by the state government but by the Centre. Why is just one person being given all the businesses,” asked Vadra.

The Congress leader taunted the treasury benches, saying: “Fear has stricken you. This is the reason that you don’t want to discuss issues in parliament.”

The Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla once remarked during Vadra’s maiden speech. He urged that the discussion on the commemoration of the 75 years of Constitution be held in a constructive spirit. But the Congress MPs shouted that the Union Defence Minister had set the negative template for the discussions.

Vadra also sought to test the treasury benches by taunting them for their obsession with the past. “Was Nehru ji responsible for everything? You have no responsibility? How long you will keep taking about the past,” asked Vadra.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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