Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government comfortably won the trust vote in the Lok Sabha on Friday, but senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor attempted to downplay the defeat saying the result was predictable.
Talking to ANI after the Modi government defeated the Opposition's No-Confidence Motion, Tharoor asserted that the process was a success as it brought the "failures of the BJP" before the nation.
"Basic message is that the journey is more important than the destination. Failures of the BJP govt were put before the nation. The outcome was predictable but the process was a success," said Tharoor.
Senior Congress leader PL Punia said that Prime Minister Modi's speech reflected his insecurity from Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders.
"The threat to the Modi government from Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders was evident through the Prime Minister's speech that reflected his insecurity," he said.
On the other hand, Mallikarjun Kharge pointed out that the Prime Minister was dramatic and that he did not acknowledge important issues like the Rafael deal and Nirav Modi.
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"We posed questions to PM Modi on Rafael deal, Nirav Modi etc but he didn't answer any. His speech was 'dramebaazi.' He didn't say anything for people of Andhra Pradesh," said Mallikarjun Kharge.
"He was telling us what previous governments have done and not what his government has done in 4 years," he added.
Echoing similar views, Congress' Jyotiraditya Scinidia said that the Prime Minister did not address the issues of common man.
"Prime Minister in his 2-hour speech didn't address any of the woes of the common man. What BJP says and what it does is a difference between the reality and what they try and conjure up. That is the signal that has gone out," said Jyotiraditya Scindia.
The Congress continued their attack on Prime Minister Modi, with senior leader Ranjeet Ranjan also pointing out that the former did not speak on any real issues and was only busy criticising them.
"He did not speak on women's safety, there was nothing on why mob lynching has increased and most importantly nothing was spoken about how the petrol prices should be reduced. The Prime Minister criticised Congress like he has been doing from past four and a half years." Ranjeet Ranjan.
"He forgot that No-Confidence Motion means that if one is unable to run a government, then not only the opposition party need to be answered but also the people of the country. This is only the trailer, the people are going to answer back in 2019." she added
On a related note, the NDA government had a comfortable majority of 325 votes in its favour, who voted against the No Confidence Motion compared to 126 votes by the Opposition parties out of total 451 Members of Parliament present in Lok Sabha.
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena abstained from voting.
The NDA victory came after an 11-hour debate, followed by a 90 minute reply by the Prime Minister, during which he listed out the achievements of his government and underlined the failures of the Congress and its allies during their previous terms.
This was also the first major unity strength of the Opposition parties that are planning to come together for 'Grand Alliance' hoping to fight Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 general elections.