In Rahul’s debut as LoP, some flashbacks, a familiar script and new role’s aggression

In first speech in House as LoP, courts religion head-on, contrasts it with BJP Hindutva; takes on PM Modi constantly; repeats themes of the LS campaign.

In his first speech as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Monday, Mr.Rahul Gandhi set the tone for the new Parliament, his aggression reflecting the changed power equations in the House.

His repeated potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi riled up the Treasury Benches and prompted the PM and his senior Cabinet colleagues, including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, to intervene and counter him repeatedly.

Essentially, Rahul picked up from where he had left off during the Lok Sabha campaign, where he led the Opposition campaign from the front.

Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address, Rahul attacked the NDA government over the Agnipath scheme, the NEET row, the MSP issue, the turmoil in Manipur, even the Modi government’s 2016 demonetisation move. He accused the ruling BJP of having created an atmosphere of fear in the country and “spreading violence and hatred” against minorities, including Muslims and Sikhs.

The main takeaways from his speech.

Engaging with religion.

There has been one constant in Rahul’s speeches for some years – his engagement with Hindu religion. He has often framed Hinduism in opposition to Hindutva, underlining the former’s inclusive nature rather than as an assertive force as a counter to another faith. The Congress leader, who has described himself as a “Shiva bhakt”, has also talked – as he did Monday – of finding the Congress’s election symbol, hand, in the images of Lord Shiva, Guru Nanak, Buddha, Mahavira in the form of ‘abhaya mudra’.

His invocation of the ‘abhaya mudra’ was a reiteration of his “daro mat”, “darao mat” message – another constant from his speeches, going back to 2017 – when he first spoke about having found the Congress’s electoral symbol in the images of gods.

In what got the BJP on its feet, Rahul then pointed to the Treasury Benches and said that “those who call themselves Hindus… are engaged in violence and hate” round the clock. “You are not a Hindu… It is clearly said in Hindu religion that one should stand with the truth and should not be afraid of the truth,” he said.

The first to rise was PM Narendra Modi, who accused Rahul of calling “the entire Hindu           society violent”. When Rahul countered by saying that Modi or the BJP didn’t stand in for “the entire Hindu society”, other BJP leaders including Amit Shah recorded their objection.

Rahul then said that even Ayodhya – the birthplace of Lord Ram — had sent a message to the BJP, going on to shake hands with Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad, who defeated the BJP’s Lallu Singh in the Faizabad seat which covers Ayodhya, who was sitting next to him.

Jibes at Prime Minister

In repeated attacks on Modi, Rahul took a swipe at the PM’s statement made in an interview during the poll campaign of “having a direct connection with God”. “The parmaatma speaks to Modiji’s aatma directly, unlike us humans,” he said, wondering whether the sudden move of demonetisation followed such a “message” from God.

Rahul also referred to another claim by Modi in an interview that it took a film for people to “get to know about Mahatma Gandhi”. “Can you understand the ignorance… that a movie has revived the Father of the Nation?” he said.

Rahul tried to draw a difference between Modi and his ministers. “When I came in the morning, Rajnath Singh greeted me with a smile. Now Modiji is sitting. No smile… serious. Namaste bhi nahin karte… kahin Modi ji na dekh le (He doesn’t even greet, afraid that Modi ji might notice)… The same story is of Nitin Gadkari… Arre Ayodhya ki janata ko chodo, yeh toh BJP walon ko darate hain (Leave aside the people of Ayodhya, Modi even has BJP people scared).”

Again, Modi stood up, to counter: “Loktantra ne aur samvidhan ne mujhe sikhaya hai ki mujhe vipaksh ke neta ko gambheerta se lena chaahiye (Democracy and the Constitution have taught me to take the Leader of the Opposition with all seriousness).”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and then Shah countered Rahul on his claims regarding the Agnipath scheme, asking him for proof.

Speaker Om Birla tried to interject saying everyone should respect the PM. Rahul countered that he respected the PM very much and was only repeating what he had himself said.

Flashes of the campaign

Rahul’s speech matched the themes, topics, language and style of his campaign, from the rise in prices, to Manipur, unemployment, demonetisation, Agnipath and paper leaks. He accused the Modi government of treating Agniveers as “use and throw labourers”, and of pushing Manipur into civil war.