‘Was Atal-ji not proud to be an Indian?’, Congress lawmaker taunts PM Modi

Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on August 16 last year at the age of 93. One of tallest leaders in modern India, Vajpayee was the first BJP leader to hold the Prime Ministerial post.

New Lok Sabha leader of the Indian National Congress, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, fired a salvo on the Narendra Modi government on Monday. Not only did he raise questions over the prime minister’s claim that people “now” being proud to be Indians, but also highlighted how this government banked completely on PM Narendra Modi. “It is filled in your head that Modi ji will do everything, so you worship him.”

Chowdhury made these remarks while responding to the “Motion of Thanks” to President Ramnath Kovind’s speech in Parliament, reported NDTV.

The lawmaker also questioned the PM stating during one of his visits abroad that it was his government that had finally made Indians proud. Modi apparently claimed that, during the Congress rule, most Indians were ashamed of their country.

Taking the thought forward, he asked if Atal Bihari Vajpayee, too, was not proud to be an Indian then.

Notably, PM Modi’s comments raked a controversy in 2015 as well, making the hashtag #ModiInsultsIndia trend on social media platform Twitter.

Further attacking the BJP lawmakers, Chowdhury said: “Half of India is reeling under drought. More than 150 children have died in Bihar due to encephalitis. And none of you are concerned because you all believe that we Members of Parliament have got nothing to do as PM Modi will do it.”

He junked all allegations of corruption levelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Narendra Modi-led NDA government against the Gandhi family and the Congress party. He said: “You may keep saying 2G, 3G, but what have you been able to prove? You try to prove that the Gandhis are thieves, but you have not been able to, as they are free… Our prime minister is a very big salesman. We (Congress) have been not been able to sell our product, which is why we lost (in the recently concluded national general elections).”

Highlighting how the Congress party would continue to work for the people even if it failed to get the mandate, he said: “We have suggested a number of amendments to the Presidential address, not to criticise him, but to point out the government’s fault.”