Opposition and Treasury benches went head-to-head in the Lok Sabha on Monday, with Leader of the Congress Legislative Party in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge demanding an apology from PM Narendra Modi for “the trouble ... caused to all sections of people” by his decision to demonetise ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes.
The remarks came during the Lok Sabha debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President for his address to both Houses of Parliament. The PM is expected to respond to the debate on Tuesday.
In a 90-minute speech, Mr. Kharge sharply attacked the ruling party, with some of his remarks referring to what he termed the “paucity of martyrs to the country” in the BJP. “Gandhiji sacrificed his life for the country, Indraji too sacrificed her life. Who came from your house? Not a single dog came from your house,” said Mr. Kharge evoking a shocked response from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
The government countered the Opposition’s charges on its failures with speeches by Union Minister Mahesh Sharma and BJP’s Kisan Morcha chief and MP from Uttar Pradesh Virendra Singh Mast extolling the government’s achievements.
Rule 352 invoked
Mr. Kharge’s charges against the government, however, did create a flutter with Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar invoking Rule 352 of parliamentary procedure that overruled a member’s right to speak if it disrupted the business of the House.
A large part of Mr. Kharge’s speech was a critique of demonetisation which, he said, had been declared by almost all economists as a bad idea. “If anybody speaks on note ban, he is accused of supporting black money. When it comes to surgical strikes, the government questions our patriotism. Have you [the government] taken the contract of patriotism,” he asked.
“The least he [Prime Minister] should have done was to introduce a resolution to condole the deaths [of 125 people in bank queues] or should have said that he wants to apologise to the people for the hardships caused to them,” Mr. Kharge added.
Accusing Mr. Modi of keeping his own government and the RBI in the dark on the issue, Mr. Kharge said, “Did black money end? Did fake currency come out?” He also alleged that the note ban decision was “leaked” to people and industrialists close to the government and BJP leaders bought vast tracts of land before the decision was announced.
