NEW DELHI: Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the government treated him like Lord Brahma and only he knew when the winter session of parliament would be convened. “I spoke to ministers, Speaker Lok Sabha and secretary general… no one knows… only one person knows whom they treat like Lord Brahma and who is the creator. Only when Brahma orders, the dates would be known,” Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said sarcastically.
Union Minister for Law Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back. “PM Narendra Modi is Pradhan Sewak of the country who is working for new India.”
Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad accused Modi of running away from Parliament as he was afraid to answer questions on corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, extraordinary profits of BJP chief Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, unemployment, and a faulty GST.
Prasad said there had been occasions in the past when the Winter Session of Parliament been called on different dates.
Noting the PM had turned the government into a poll machine as he was in a perpetual campaign mode from panchayat to parliamentary polls, Azad questioned using defence aircraft to ferry him. “This is a scam worth thousands of crores,” he said. “We want the PM and the government to work for the people.”
Prasad refuted the charge. “Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi as PMs used defence planes. Jan Sangh went to court on the issue,” said Prasad. The court had decreed then that since the prime minister is an
SPG protectee, he could use defence planes.
Noting the Congress would seek explanation on the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, Sharma charged the PM with compromising on defence preparedness of the country. “The faulty GST too will be discussed,”
he said.
Congress lawmaker Deepender Hooda said the government was ignoring the rural distress forcing farmers to protest in the national capital.