Parliament session ends on sour note

Congress said it will boycott Modi for second part of the session, scheduled from Mar 9 to Apr 13

Acrimony marked the end of the first half of Parliament’s Budget session, marked by bitterness between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

Members of both tried to shout down the other over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “raincoat” jibe at predecessor Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.

“Only Manmohan Singh knows how to take a bath by wearing a raincoat,” Modi had said, referring to the scandals and other controversies during the former’s second, 2009-14, tenure.

The Congress has said it will boycott Modi for the second part of the session, scheduled from March 9 to April 13. Part one ended on Thursday.

The war of words took place both inside Parliament and outside. Rahul Gandhi, the Congress’ vice-presidenty, who’d tweeted on Wednesday to criticise Modi’s remarks, further targeted him at an election rally in Almora.

“By targeting his predecessor in that manner, the PM has lowered the dignity of his office," Gandhi said.

BJP president Amit Shah hit back with a reminder on Sonia Gandhi’s 2007 ‘maut ka saudagar’ (merchant of death) charge at Modi on his role in the 2002 communal riots as Gujarat chief minister.

Inside Parliament, a united opposition did not let the Rajya Sabha (where the governing coalition lacks a majority) function over the issue. And, disrupted the Lok Sabha, repeatedly.

Other opposition parties supported the Congress in the Rajya Sabha in seeking an apology from the PM. To which BJP members said the Congress had no moral right to retort.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) lawmaker Sitaram Yechury said as a member, Singh had the right to speak if his name was mentioned but he chose not to because he is a gentleman and could not stoop to the streetfighting of the BJP.

Congress senior Digvijaya Singh demanded Modi’s remarks be expunged. 

"I cannot reopen a discussion which is concluded... there are so many other ways of raising (your concerns)," Rajya Sabha deputy head P J Kurien said, further stoking the din.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram, who started the debate on the Union Budget in the Rajya Sabha, said Modi should at least respect the chair on which giants like Jawaharlal Nehru and the BJP’s Atal Behari Vajpayee had once sat.

Information and broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu attacked the Congress for obstructing proceedings. "The Opposition has called the PM 'Hitler', 'Mussolini', 'Gaddafi'. It is a shame. They are not able to see the reality, creating issues out of non-issues. Why should the PM apologise?" Naidu asked.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress was now only a "conglomeration believing in divinity and devotion to a family".

Congress member Shashi Tharoor said: “I do not think in the history of Indian parliamentary democracy we have ever heard the PM insulting his predecessor in such a manner, using bathroom analogy.”