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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his reply to the President’s address, chose to take an aggressive approach in the Rajya Sabha rather than a conciliatory stance like the one he took in the Lok Sabha.
However, in a first, the government had to face the embarrassment, as the House adopted an Opposition amendment regretting no mention of action against corruption or on bringing back unaccounted ‘black’ money in the presidential address.
The PM gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the Opposition’s criticism that the government's programmes were only a re-packaging of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) initiatives. The Opposition had also criticised the government for, what they called, “arbitrary dismissal of bureaucrats”.
Responding to the charges, Modi accused the Congress-led UPA government of “renaming” NDA’s schemes, launched by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government, such as Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (rechristened as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). Even UPA’s Right to Information Act and Aadhaar projects were initiated by the NDA government, he said.
Hitting out at UPA, Modi said, “The special investigation team on black money was not formed despite the apex court directions, as there was an effort to save somebody.” Refuting the charges of Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, Modi stated, “No threat was issued to any opposition party on the issue of black money.”
His disparaging remarks about the 30-year Left Front rule in West Bengal did nothing to win him any friends in the Upper House. In an unprecedented move, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury succeeded in pushing through an amendment putting on record the House’s regret that neither corruption at the highest levels or black money had found any mention in the Presidential address.
Modi took the opportunity to assure members on the government’s commitment of ‘zero tolerance’ on terror. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s recent remarks, thanking the Hurriyat leaders and militants, had sparked a national outrage. Modi said “The Common Minimum Programme will be the basis of the government in the state.” He said he did not agree with Mufti’s views.
On the issue of ordinances, in particular the land ordinance, Modi urged the Opposition not to spread misinformation. He reiterated that the government was willing to engage with the Opposition and sort out their concerns but the land Act was here to stay, he said.
If Narendra Modi hopes to get his six ordinances cleared through the Rajya Sabha in this session, then he will surely have to be more accommodating in his approach with the Opposition which is in majority here.
