'Act of cowardice': Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah hits out at PM Modi for skipping LS reply
BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that the latter was undermining democracy by evading a debate on the motion of thanks to the president’s address in the Lok Sabha.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’, the Chief Minister said that the PM’s decision not to reply to the debate amounted to a grave act of disrespect to the Parliament itself and mirrored his incapability to stand before the truth.
Siddaramaiah alleged that this was the first time ever in the 79 years of Indian democracy that the motion of thanks, which is part of Indian parliamentary tradition, has been passed without a response from the PM and called it as an abdication of responsibility.
“The Prime Minister, @narendramodi, evading the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha without giving a reply is not only a grave disrespect to Parliament, but also an act of cowardice-an inability to face the truth,” Siddaramaiah said.
For the first time in the history of India’s Parliament, the Motion of Thanks has been passed without a reply from the PM, the CM said. “When a Prime Minister ignores Parliament, it amounts to shirking responsibility,” he added.
“The ruling party, @BJP4India, first prevented the Opposition from speaking, and then chose to remain silent itself. This is a deeply alarming development.
When the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, @RahulGandhi, attempted to raise serious issues related to national security mentioned in the book of former Army Chief General MM Naravane during his speech on the Motion of Thanks, he was completely stopped from speaking,” he added.
“The book records that during the 2020 China border confrontation, instead of taking a decisive decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi merely told the Army Chief, “Jo uchit samjho, woh karo” (“Do what you think is appropriate”).
This not only exposes the hollowness of Modi’s leadership to the entire world, but also lays bare the cowardice hidden behind the much-touted “56-inch chest” he has built his image around. It is precisely to prevent a discussion in Parliament on this evasive conduct of the PM that Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak. Suppressing the voices of Opposition parties that represent a large majority of the people of this country is nothing but the strangulation of democracy,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi had already stated that Modi is completely frightened and therefore lacks the courage to attend Parliament, the CM said.
“By staying away from the Lok Sabha, Modi has proved that he is indeed afraid. Can someone who has no confidence in his own decisions, and who constantly retreats from debate, ever provide strong leadership to the country? Similarly, the partisan conduct of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who allowed the Motion of Thanks to be passed without giving the Prime Minister an opportunity to speak, has caused a serious erosion of the dignity of Parliament. The Speaker’s duty is to uphold the dignity of the Lok Sabha, not to act as a protective shield for the government,” the CM added.
When Opposition voices are gagged and the Prime Minister runs away, Parliament becomes meaningless, he said. “Weakening Parliament, misusing constitutional positions, and destroying India’s democratic institutions is part of the BJP-RSS conspiracy. Democracy cannot survive through intimidation, silencing dissent, and running away from debate,” the CM posted with a hashtag #AnswerMadiModi.’’
