Democracy was cremated in Lok Sabha: Congress

The Congress on Wednesday strongly criticised the expunging of certain remarks by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that ldquodemocracy was crematedrdquo in Lok SabhaRahul Gandhi made these remarks in Lok Sabha on Tuesday Congress general secretary incharge communications Jairam Ramesh tweeted on Wednesday ldquoWith the expunging of Rahul Gandhirsquos remarks on PMlinked Adani Maha Mega Scam deMOcracy was cremated in the Lok Sabha OM ShantirdquoOn Tuesday Gandhi alleged that the meteoric rise in Gautam Adanirsquos fortunes happened after the BJP came to power in 2014 and he rose from the 609th to the second spot in the global rich listHis remarks had drawn a sharp response from Treasury benches with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking him not to level ldquowild allegationsrdquo and to furnish proof of his claimsPM taunts the OppnWithout mentioning the Oppositionrsquos protest against the Adani issue Modi on Wednesday said in Lok Sabha that the world was looking at India with hope amid instability in some parts of the globe due to the onceinacentury pandemic and conflictsAlso Read Opposition takes on PM Modi for not giving answers on Adani issueldquoBut some people who are neck deep in frustration refuse to accept Indiarsquos growth story They cannot see the achievements of 140 crore Indians People trust in Modi not due to newspaper headlines or TV visuals but due to my years of dedication in the service of the peoplerdquo he addedBJP members broke into chants of lsquoModi Modirsquo as the PM listed out the public welfare initiatives of his government Opposition members raised the slogan of lsquoAdani Adanirsquo to counter them Ramesh described the PMrsquos reply in Parliament as diversionary and said there was not even a word on his ldquolinksrdquo with his favourite ldquobusinessmenrdquoYet no talk of probe RahulRahul once again on Wednesday accused Modi of protecting Gautam Adani stating that the PM has neither ordered an inquiry into the allegations levelled against the industrialist nor answered questions of the OppositionldquoI am not satisfied but it reveals the truth There was no talk of an inquiry If he is not a friend then he should have agreed to an inquiry There was no probe into shell companies in defence sector and benami money is changing hands but the prime minister did not say anything on thatldquoThis is a very big scam He did not even say that He PM is surely trying to protect him Adani and I understand this and there are reasons for itrdquo he told reporters Gandhi said this is an issue of national security and concerns the countryrsquos infrastructure and the PM should have said that there will be a probeKharge invokes Vajpayeersquos lsquoraj dharmarsquo remarkLeader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge invoked Atal Bihari Vajpayeersquos lsquoraj dharmarsquo remark post the 2002 Gujarat riots sparking a heated exchange with BJP members in Rajya Sabha Kharge said ldquoI will quote AB Vajpayee ji He said in Ahmedabad that Indiarsquos image has been tarnished overseas due to the communal riots I didnrsquot say this Atal Bihari ji said this With what face will I go abroad Raj dharma has not been followedrdquo BJP leaders including Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman accused Kharge of quoting the former PM ldquopartly to suit their conveniencerdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever