Opposition tears into government over its failure to deliver

NEW DELHI: The Opposition parties ripped into the government while participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address on Tuesday.

Slamming the Narendra Modi-led government, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge led the Opposition charge in the Lok Sabha from the front on Tuesday even as he encapsulated his charges in a couplet: “Khub karo Modi sahab koshish hame mitti mein dabane ki, hum bij hain, hame adat hai ug jane ki “ (However hard you try to grind us into the dust, Modiji, we are like the seeds which will sprout up despite your attempts). The Prime Minister will respond to the Opposition charges on Wednesday.

Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi’s Davos visit, the Leader of the Opposition quipped and said; “You spoke very well in Davos, but when the foreigners come to invest in India what you will say. That cow vigilantes in India kill the non-vegetarians.”

Noting that UPA government had announced a Rs 72,000-crore farm loan waiver, Kharge demanded that the Modi government should also announce such waiver to help farmers.

Claiming that the government is weakening the armed forces, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia demanded a white paper of the Rafale deal and questioned its transparency, saying that the people of the country have realised; “Kamal ka phool hamari bhool” (it was a mistake to vote for the lotus).

CPI (M) MP Md Salim took a dig at PM Modi for his ‘unfulfilled’ promises and said that someone was talking about his 56-inch chest, “later we realised it was not 56 inches chest. but the length of his tongue”.