Gandhi alleged that external affairs minister S. Jaishankar was sent to the United States to secure an invitation for Prime Minister Modi to President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
New Delhi:Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi launched a frontal attack on the Modi government in the Lok Sabha on Monday, claiming that the reason China was “sitting inside” the country Was because “'Make in India has failed.”
He alleged that about 70 lakh voters, equivalent to Himachal Pradesh's population, were added to the electoral rolls in Maharashtra between the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly elections, and demanded that the Election Commission furnish data to the Opposition parties in the state.
Gandhi alleged that external affairs minister S. Jaishankar was sent to the United States to secure an invitation for Prime Minister Modi to President Donald Trump’s inauguration. However, Jaishankar refuted the statement and said while Gandhi’s “lies may be intended politically… they damage the nation abroad”.
Prime Minister Modi will reply to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address at 5 pm on Tuesday evening, when he will take on the allegations made by Gandhi.
Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address on January 31, Gandhi said: “I must say, I struggled through the President's address to maintain my attention on what was being said because I had heard pretty much the same President's address the last time and the time before that. It was the same laundry list of the things that the government has done.”
The Congress leader said that “Make in India” was a good idea, but the Prime Minister had “pretty much failed”. Modi was present in the House as Gandhi was speaking.
“The result is right in front of you: manufacturing fell from 15.3 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 12.6 per cent of GDP today, which is the lowest share of manufacturing in 60 years. I am not blaming the Prime Minister, it would not be fair to say that he did not try. I could say that the Prime Minister tried but he failed.”
He said that China has been working on batteries, robots, motors, optics for the last 10 years and “we are behind”.
“Our foreign policy would take into account this revolution. When we talk to the United States, we would not send our foreign minister to invite our Prime Minister to (Donald Trump’s) coronation. We would not send him 3-4 times. Please invite our PM. Because if we had a production system and if we were working on these technologies, the US President would come here and invite the Prime Minister,” said Gandhi.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju objected to this and asked Gandhi to substantiate his claims on the government's foreign policy. “You cannot make such unsubstantiated claims,” he said. Later in the evening Rijiju met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Gandhi's statement.
Gandhi said that “essentially what we have done is that we have handed over organisation of production to the Chinese.”
“This mobile phone, even though we are saying we make this mobile phone in India, that is not a fact. This phone is not made in India. This phone is assembled in India. All the components of this phone are made in China….we are paying a tax to China,” he said.
”Our Chief of Army Staff has said that the Chinese are inside our territory. This is a fact. The reason China is inside our territory is important… The reason China is sitting inside this country is because 'Make in India' has failed. The reason China sitting inside this country is because India is refusing to produce and I am worried that India is going to give up this revolution to the Chinese once again... If and when we fight a war with China, we will be fighting with Chinese electric motors, Chinese batteries and Chinese optics and we will be buying Chinese motors, Chinese optics and Chinese batteries,” said Gandhi.
With a copy of the Constitution in his hand, Gandhi said this is supported by the “vote of our people, and without a secure vote, the Constitution means nothing”.
“Now, I want to bring to the notice of this House some data about the Maharashtra polls. Between the Lok Sabha polls, which the I.N.D.I.A. bloc won, and the Assembly elections, the number equivalent to the population of Himachal was added to the voting rolls of Maharashtra,” he said. “I am not making an allegation, I am only saying that there is something problematic that the population equivalent to that of Himachal was added in Maharashtra through magic after the Lok Sabha polls.”
“We have requested the Election Commission repeatedly that we are not making an allegation, ‘give us the Lok Sabha voters' list and that of the Vidhan Sabha...’ We are saying to the EC that ‘please give us names and addresses of voters of all booths from the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections’, so we can calculate who these voters are,” Gandhi said.
He said the Chief Election Commissioner used to be chosen by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India, but the Chief Justice was removed from the panel by the government. “This raises a crucial question for the Prime Minister: why was this change made? In a few days, I will be attending a meeting with Mr Amit Shah and Mr Modi, which seems like an uneven playing field, with a 2:1 ratio. What’s the point of my attendance? Am I merely there to rubber-stamp what Modi ji and Amit Shah ji say?” he said.
The presence of the Chief Justice would have facilitated a more balanced discussion, he said, adding this change to remove the CJI appears to be a deliberate strategy. "Furthermore, the Election Commissioner was replaced just before the Lok Sabha elections, two Election Commissioners were appointed. To safeguard the Constitution, the entire Opposition is requesting data on the Maharashtra elections,” Gandhi said.
