Amid continuing attacks from Opposition benches in the Rajya Sabha on the second day of the debate on the Motion to Thanks to President Droupadi Murmu for her address to the joint session of Parliament, the BJP fielded its president, Union Health Minister and leader of the Upper House J.P. Nadda to counter the attack.
Mr. Nadda targeted the Congress and said the party that had imposed Emergency and tried to dilute reservations was now speaking about democracy and protecting reservations.
Parliament session Day 7 updates: Highlights on July 2, 2024
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s statement in the House, in which he said he had been an Ekalavya (disciple) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since he had left the Congress, and that he considered leaders of the RSS as saintly people, was questioned by Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who urged Mr. Dhankar to not spread an ideology from the Chair.
In his speech that lasted about an hour and 45 minutes, Mr. Nadda said the Narendra Modi government had worked to ensure global economic crises did not impact India. He said Mr. Modi had provided support to industries so that the economy remained insulated from external problems. Mr. Nadda said measures such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) had helped small traders and consumers. On defence, he said steps taken by the Centre were making the Army world-class, and the country now had the capacity to make fighter jets. He questioned the Opposition’s stand on democracy and reservation, and said the Congress had opposed B.R. Ambedkar, and did not even allow him to state in Parliament the reason for his resignation from the Cabinet of the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Mr. Nadda also read out a letter by Nehru to the State Chief Ministers, adding that the Congress had never been committed to reservation.
In their speeches, Opposition members took up several issues, including unemployment, paper leaks, and problems in the education sector. Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and senior MP Ram Gopal Yadav said the President’s speech had been silent on rampant corruption. He said the rich had been taking the subsidies meant for the poor. He said even the scheme to provide water taps had not reached villages. He said certain coaching centres scuttled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and National Eligibility Test (NET) and the government had remained silent. He said banks were giving “huge haircuts” (write-offs) to big industrial houses.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP A.A. Rahim said there had been no mention of unemployment in the President’s speech. The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Raghav Chadha said two IPLs were played in the country — one was the Indian Premier League for cricket, and the second was the “Indian Paper Leak”, and that the National Testing Agency now stood for “No Trust Anymore”.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, too, demanded strict action against those who are responsible for the widespread irregularities and corruption in the examination process. “I want to ask the Prime Minister just one question regarding NEET. Will you cancel this NEET 2024 exam? Yes or no? Is the government going to sack the NTA head who is involved in the scam?” Mr. Singh asked.
The SP’s Ramji Lal Suman said the Union Education Minister had indicated action would be taken after two months following a departmental enquiry. “I am simply asking why he has not been dismissed so far,” Mr. Suman said.
Nominated MP Sudha Murty demanded a government-sponsored vaccination programme to fight cervical cancer. “There is a vaccination which is given to girls between the age of nine to 14 known as a cervical vaccination. If the girls take that, it (the cancer) can be avoided... We should promote vaccination for the benefit of our girls because prevention is better than cure,” Ms. Murty said.
Trinamool Congress member Sagarika Ghose, in her maiden speech in the Rajya Sabha, mentioned the lynching of three men in Chhattisgarh by a mob a few days ago. Pointing to the delegitimisation of the Opposition, she said there was a “democracy deficit” in the nation, adding that the civil war in Manipur was continuing without redressal.
P. Wilson of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) also raised the NEET paper leak issue. “The Tamil Nadu Assembly has recently moved a resolution seeking exemption for Tamil Nadu from the NEET exam, or to scrap the NEET for admission to medical courses. Therefore, we seek the Prime Minister’s immediate attention, either to approve the Bill passed by the State government, or to bring about amendments to the National Medical Council Act so that the NEET and other exams are given up on the national-level. The NTA is an unaccountable and incompetent authority,” Mr. Wilson said.
