CONGRESS WRITES TO LS SPEAKER OM BIRLA, POINTS OUT ‘INACCURACIES’ IN PM MODI, ANURAG THAKUR’S SPEECH

Countering the BJP's offensive in Parliament, the Congress on Thursday has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP MP Anurag Thakur had made inaccurate and misleading statements in the House.

The move comes after the uproar over Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's address in Lok Sabha. Several portions of the speech were expunged, and the BJP submitted a notice against the inaccuracies.

In his letter to Birla, Congress MP Manickam Tagore requested that provisions of Direction 115(1) be. Under Direction 115(1), any MP wishing to highlight an inaccuracy in a statement made by another MP must write to the Speaker before raising the matter in Parliament.

Speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allegation that the “Congress made a false promise of Rs 8,500 per month to women”, Tagore said, “It was a promise [to be fulfilled] on victory and government formation.”

The Congress also questioned the PM’s statement that the “Congress vote share has gone down in 16 states which it contested alone”. “This is factually incorrect. Congress vote share increased in HP, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Telangana etc,” stated the letter.

The Congress described the PM’s statement that “no bullet proof jackets [were provided] for the Army during the Congress’s time” as “grossly misleading”. “There was a shortage of jackets, not that jackets were not there. Even police had bullet proof jackets like in Mumbai attacks,” the letter read.

According to the party, PM Modi also said the “Congress didn’t give fighter jets to the Army”. “This is misleading. Congress time had Mig 29, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 and Sukhoi SU 30,” Tagore said.

The Congress also pointed out alleged inaccuracies in Thakur’s July 1 speech in the Lok Sabha. According to the Congress, the Hamirpur MP from BJP claimed that the Army was not given arms and fighter jets when the party ruled the country. “We had a Jaguar, Mig 29, SU- 30, Mirage 2000. We had nuclear bombs, missiles like Agni, Prithvi, Aakash, Nag, Trishul and later Brahmos,” the Congress letter stated.

The Congress also flagged a “factual inaccuracy” in Thakur’s claim that “25 crore people were brought out of poverty”. The Congress also contested Thakur’s claim that the “PM has not taken a single holiday” asking, “Which category of leave is taken for election campaigns?”

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned after the President's address and the debate thereafter on Wednesday. Both Houses saw protests by the Opposition, including a walkout in Rajya Sabha during the Prime Minister's address. The Parliament is expected to reconvene in the third week of July ahead of the Union Budget.

2024-07-04T11:17:19Z dg43tfdfdgfd