Rahul attacks establishment over inability to win polls: Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi: Ruling NDA on Tuesday dealt a serious blow to Rahul Gandhi With the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs on the no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla Kieron Rijiju It is said that the opposition leader attacked the democratic system because he realized that he could not lead his party to win elections.Rijiju said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was a better choice to lead the Congress party and accused Rahul of openly seeking foreign intervention to counter alleged threats to Indian democracy.The ruling alliance has sought to frame the no-confidence motion as another example of Rahul duping his Congress colleagues and other opposition figures into supporting his whims, with Rijiju claiming that at least 50 opposition MPs confided in him their misgivings about the move against Birla.Rahul’s antics damaged Pal’s dignity: RijijuThe NDA Speaker continued his attacks even as members of the India Group defended the move against the Speaker and accused him of gagging the opposition at the behest of the government. DMK’s TR Baalu ​​called him a “gentleman” for suspending so many opposition MPs, while TMC’s Mahua Moitra termed the motion as divine retribution for the Speaker’s “wrong” expulsion of her in 2023. His karma had caught up with him, she said. Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (UBT) said Birla was under pressure to go against the opposition.Rijiju accused Rahul of undermining the dignity of the Assembly by his “antics”. He tried to forcefully hug the Prime Minister. “What kind of LoP is this?” the minister asked.Other speakers on the finance minister’s bench, including JDU’s Rajiv Ranjan, Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde and TDP’s Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu, highlighted Rahul’s frequent absence from important debates in the House and accused him of undermining the national interest by questioning the sacrifices of the armed forces. Shinde called him a “holiday leader, not an opposition leader.” NDA MPs praised Birla for providing opportunities to first-time MPs and helping the Lok Sabha achieve record productivity during his tenure.Rijiju claimed that the opposition was upset over the motion against the Speaker, while the TMC reversed its earlier stand after the Congress was keen on seeking the ouster of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, who had angered West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for conducting an electoral roll SIR in the state.He said Priyanka Gandhi was a better choice to lead the Congress, leading to protests by Congress members. Rijiju also contrasted the Congress party’s attitude towards the Speaker, saying the opposition chose not to move a no-confidence motion against then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee even though he blocked the telecast of the session in 2008, when the Congress party had secured a majority through bribery.The MP interrupted the minister when he mentioned the PPP’s meeting with the Chinese ambassador in 2017 when the two armies were locked in a tense standoff in Doklam.Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh said the opposition has been mercilessly disrupting the functioning of the House, ignoring the fact that it costs Rs 19 crore for every hour it sits and Rs 9 crore for every day it meets. “These people don’t let it run, their money is being wasted, it’s taxpayers’ money they’re wasting,” JDU neta said.Referring to Speaker Mahua Moitra’s remarks of silencing the opposition voices, Lalan Singh said it was the then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee who did not allow Mamata to speak when she was the only MP from her party. Mamata was part of the NDA at that time, but the saffron alliance did not move any no-confidence motion against the Speaker.