“Today there is no major area along the Line of Actual (LAC) where a car does not go, " Union Minister Kiren Rijiju

("The Oppostion alliance partners could not accept that the President of Papua New Guinea touched feet of Modi, or why Biden (US President Joe Biden) seeks Modi’s autograph or why the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls Modi as ‘Boss’, said articulate Nishikant Dubey.) 

Arunachal Pradesh lawmaker and the articulate Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday defended the Modi government fiercely for its policy towards northeast and lambasted the Congress and the erstwhile UPA for their 'ignorance' about the region.

“When I came here in 2004.....Union ministers did not know the names of eight states in the northeast, the story has changed completely after 2014,” Rijiju said in the Lok Sabha making an intervention during the debate on No Confidence motion brought essentially due to Manipur violence.

He specifically told Congress member Gaurav Gogoi (from Assam) who initiated the debate that "at least there should have been one line of appreciation" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Gogoi.

He gave the example of Uttarakhand where he has been to a forward post during Modi-1.0 as Minister of State for Home and was surprised to see that Indian security personnel used to use 'Nepal sim' for their mobile handsets. 

He also said, "People in forward areas used to walk for 18 days at times....."; but hastened to add, “Today there is no major area along the LAC where a car does not go. Today the Border Roads Organization has constructed a large number of bridges and roads, each district headquarter has a double lane road".

He said Opposition MPs including Rahul Gandhi could accompany him ".....to Arunachal and I will show you inch by inch....Don’t believe what some mischievous pressman writes ...China is setting up villages in the area which the Congress gave away to it".

Rijiju questioned former PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s China policy and recalled his alleged radio message in 1962 when he said, "my heart goes out to the people of Assam".

"Arunachal Pradesh was then NEFA, and NEFA was part of Assam," Rijiju said.

Referring to India's better performance in Olympic Games in recent times, the Minister said, "it was only in 2020 that the country won seven medals for the first time ....When I used to play, I could have won more medals for India if Narendra Modi was the PM."

 

Olympic Javelin Gold Medal winner Neeraj Chopra 

Nishikant Dubey was BJP's opening batsman during the debate. Taking a swipe at the former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he made a veiled attack on her for trying to protect the interest of her son Rahul Gandhi and son-in-law Robert Vadra. 

"This no-confidence motion has been brought. Why has this been brought? Sonia ji (Gandhi) is sitting here...I think she has to do two things to do- Bete (son) ko set karna hai aur damad (son-in-law) ko bhent karna hai...That is the base of this motion." He reminded the House and Congress members especially that "The Supreme Court has not given any judgment. It has given a stay order (to Rahul's conviction)...

"He is saying that he will not apologise...Secondly, he says 'I am not Savarkar. Rahul Gandhi, you can never be Veer Savarkar...".

Dubey said the real issue at stake is something different. "My Prime Minister Narendra Modi says this is not a No Trust Motion against our government, to be precise it is a motion to decide which parties are reposing faith in the opposition camp.....". 

On this backdrop, Nishikant said the most important feature is that most of the opposition parties such as DMK, Trinamool, JD-U and RJD all have contradictions for their association with the Congress. "All of you actually have problems with Congress, but why you all are today opposing us," the MP from Godda constituency in Jharkhand said.     

"This no confidence is against the son of a poor man, the man who provided drinking water, toilets and supplied power”. 

Quotes from Lok Sabha debate on No Confidence Motion against Modi Govt

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Samajwadi member Dimple Yadav : "The Manipur incident is very sensitive. The Govt has been very insensitive. It was a complete violation of human rights. Using women as instruments for perpetrating violence is unacceptable in constitutional democracy...It was a state-sponsored ethnic violence". 

Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister and Arunachal lawmaker : "Before 2014, many people from the Northeast faced racial discrimination and atrocities in Delhi and other major cities of the country. After 2014 the situation changed".

BJD floor leader Pinaki Misra : "...I have always believed that the Congress party is adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. They are also very adept at cutting their nose to spite their face. They know that every time the Prime Minister  has got up to speak, he has pushed the Congress through the shredder".

Shrikant Eknath Shinde (ShivSena) : "This is not a battle between two coalitions. It's a battle between 

Scheme of NDA against the Scam of I.N.D.I.A".

Initiating the debate, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi :"PM took a 'maun vrat' to not speak in the 

Parliament. So, we had to bring the No Confidence Motion to break his silence".

BJP's  Nishikant Dubey : "The Supreme Court has not given a judgement (on Rahul Gandhi defamation case). 

It has given a stay order...He (Rahul) is saying that he will not apologise". 

NCP leader Supriya Sule : "I demand that the (Manipur) CM must resign immediately...10,000 cases of 

rioting, murder and rape. Have we become so insensitive?"

Navneet Ravi Rana, Independent : "The video of assault on women was shot on May 4th and was made viral in July...The Government must probe into this and ensure punishment for those responsible behind making the video viral".

 

N K Premachandran, RSP: "The Opposition's No Confidence Motion has been ratified by the Supreme Court by its verdict 

yesterday".

(The debate remained inconclusive and will resume on Aug 9th.)

ends