The Lok Sabha witnessed heated exchanges between the treasury benches and the opposition during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address. The claims, counterclaims, and interjections all point towards a confrontational atmosphere in the 18th Lok Sabha, perhaps shaped by changes in its composition.

From 2019 to 2024, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and friendly parties held a significant lead of around 300 MPs over the INDIA bloc and opposition. However, this session saw the margin narrowing to just 60 MPs. The verbal sparring between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi turned acrimonious and personal, reflecting the recently concluded election campaign dynamics and entrenched positions.

Both Congress And BJP Remain Steadfast

While the Congress aims to sustain momentum, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains resolute not to concede further ground. The shift in strength, allocation of time for parties, and the calibre of speakers on both sides will significantly influence proceedings over the next five years. During the recent Motion of Thanks debate, Rahul Gandhi, as Leader of the Opposition, spoke for nearly an hour and 40 minutes out of the allotted 16 hours – roughly 15% of the total time allotted to the opposition.

Time allocations are based on Lok Sabha strength. During the No Confidence Motion of August 2023, the BJP received around 45% of the time, while the Congress’ share was just 18% With the BJP’s friendly parties (the Biju Janata Dal, the YSR Congress Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party) losing ground in recent elections, their allocation has shifted notably to opposition parties.

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Some prominent speakers from the treasury benches, such as Smriti Irani, were notably absent. Conversely, the presence of parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) has bolstered the opposition, particularly with effective speakers in fluent Hindi. Akhilesh Yadav’s speech, noted for its sarcasm without overt anger, followed Rahul’s assertive tone.

Rahul’s Performance As LoP

During Monday’s session, Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Modi government, highlighting issues including inflation, unemployment, NEET, Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, the Agniveer scheme, and Hindutva, aiming to put the government on the defensive. Top ministers, including the Prime Minister, intervened during Rahul’s speech.

While Rahul addressed critical issues, some noted the absence of specific data and figures in his speech. There is already an ongoing debate over Rahul’s performance in his role as Leader of the Opposition, with supporters arguing his assertiveness marks a significant political presence that cannot be ignored.

Not new to controversy, Rahul made a reference to the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), stating, that those who called themselves Hindu only talked about violence, hatred, and untruth. PM Modi rebutted instantly.

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References in Rahul’s speech to to Hinduism and violence, two prominent industrialists, the Agnipath scheme, and NEET, were expunged. The LoP subsequently wrote to the Speaker questioning the decision and demanding the restoration of his remarks in parliamentary records.

Modi’s Address

On Tuesday, PM Modi delivered the concluding remarks on the Motion of Thanks in the Lok Sabha. His speech, lasting around 2.5 hours, was a scathing attack on the Congress and Rahul. Throughout his address, the opposition shouted slogans, prompting Modi to use headphones to counter the noise. Despite the interruptions, Modi’s speech, though not entirely audible, gave enough hints of the things to come in the next five years.

Modi criticised the opposition’s maturity level, noting that while the treasury benches listened to Rahul’s speech with interjections rather than shouting slogans, the opposition did not afford the same respect to the Prime Minister. Expressing displeasure at the sloganeering, Modi referred to Rahul as “balak buddhi” (childish) and mocked how a party celebrating 99 out of 543 seats was acting as if it had won 99 out of 100. He criticised the Congress party’s promise of transferring Rs. 1 lakh to women’s bank accounts, highlighting the public’s scepticism about similar promises made earlier.

Modi accused Rahul of resorting to drama to garner sympathy, pointing out his bail status in alleged financial misconduct.

Overall, the debate was disappointing for both the opposition and the ruling party. BJP leaders neglected discussion around their agenda for the next five years, while the opposition failed to engage in constructive criticism and effectively address issues like NEET. Both sides instead resorted to mudslinging, seemingly forgetting that the elections were over.

The session’s outcome suggests the potential for more disruptions and chaos in Parliament. Both sides must reconcile with the electoral mandate and strive for a fresh start in the upcoming Budget session.

(Amitabh Tiwari is a political strategist and commentator. In his earlier avatar, he was a corporate and investment banker.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

New Delhi:

Student protests escalating across the country over alleged irregularities in medical entrance exam NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and other competitive exams, the Opposition has said it would raise the issue in parliament tomorrow. The idea is to corner the government, even though the day is dedicated to a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to President’s address to parliament. Projecting confidence, sources told NDTV that the government is ready to answer any questions on the matter even if it comes up during the debate.

Every possible action has been taken on the NEET issue, from starting a Central Bureau of Investigation probe to forming a special committee to look into it, government sources said. The committee report is expected soon. Also, the stringent rules against cheating and paper leak coming into effect in this session, strong action will be taken against the culprits and foundation would be laid for a robust education system, they said.

In case the matter comes up tomorrow, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan will respond to it, sources said. Mr Pradhan was booed by the Opposition over the NEET row when he took oath in parliament on Monday.

The massive row over NEET also came up in President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint session of parliament today. The government, President Murmu said, is “committed to a fair investigation”.

The Opposition decision to raise NEET before any other issue was taken at a meeting this evening amid massive public anger. Since June 4, when the results were declared, protests and demonstrations have swept the country over allegations of paper leak and preferential marking.

This afternoon, the Congress student wing NSUI barged into the office of the NTA (National Testing agency) which conducts the NEET exam, demanding that it be shut down. The protest came shortly after the Youth Congress held a protest near Parliament.

The NEET results coinciding with the results of the general election, the protests and allegations gave the rejuvenated opposition its first opportunity to target the BJP-led government at the beginning of its third term.

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi contended that the BJP-ruled states have become the “epicentre of paper leak”, pointing to the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh 15 years ago, that involved massive irregularities in the entrance exams for government jobs. From there, it has spread to all BJP-ruled states, he said in a reference to the paper leak in the Uttar Pradesh Police Constable exam.

The government retaliated with allegations of a nexus between key INDIA ally Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav and the accused arrested in Bihar in the paper leak case. The RJD has denied the claim.

Hazaribagh:

In a first, a District Coordinator of the National Testing Agency or NTA, which holds the medical entrance exam NEET-UG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), has admitted that the question papers were tampered with. Dr Ahsanul Haque, who also heads Hazaribagh’s Oasis school where the exam was held on May 5, said the tampering was discovered by the officers of the Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit, which was investigating the alleged paper leak till it was taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation last week.

“On June 21, the EOU investigating the case, noticed the tampering of the seven-layer packaging of the NEET question paper,” Dr Haque told NDTV in an exclusive interview. The tampering was noticed in the seventh and innermost layer, he said. The officials noted this while checking the unused papers at the school.

In Seven-Layer Package For Question Papers, A Box With 2 Locks

It is not clear how the innermost layer was tampered with if the outer layers are intact. One of these outer layers is a metal box with two sets of locks. One of the locks is digital, which is programmed to open on its own two hours before the exam. The other is a mechanical one which needs to be cut with a file to open the box.

Dr Haque said the investigating officers have concluded that the weak link in the question paper custody chain is the courier service. The Blue Dart courier is in charge of transporting the papers from Ranchi to Hazaribagh and then to the State Bank of India, where they are stored in lockers.

The officials, he said, had hinted that proper procedure was not followed by transferring the papers.

The usual mode of transfer is by flight from Delhi to state capitals after which they are moved to the lockers of the state bank.

The sealed boxes of question papers are opened at the bank two hours before the exam, in presence of the local magistrate and the Centre heads, who act as witnesses. The entire process is videographed.

The sealed envelopes are then taken to the exam centre, where they are handed to invigilators. This time, two candidates taking the exam are present as witnesses.

Arrests Across Bihar, Jharkhand

A series of arrests have been made in Bihar and Jharkhand after allegations of widespread irregularities in the exam, taken by more than 24 lakh aspirants.

Six men were arrested from Jharkhand’s Deoghar three days ago. All of them are residents of Nalanda in Bihar, who were hiding in a rented house in Deoghar. While those involved in solving the papers were operating from Ranchi and Jharkhand, the role of these men in the paper leak is still not clear.

In Bihar, 13 people have been arrested so far in connection with the case. The last three men arrested said they were charging each candidate Rs 30 to 40 lakh for the solved answer sheets which they had to memorise.

The candidates who have been questioned, said at least 30 of them have received solved answer papers, indicating the existence of a massive network that operated in a planned manner across Bihar and Jharkhand.

The Delhi Link

A Delhi and Maharashtra connection have also emerged with the arrest of a school teacher in Latur.

Jalil Umarkhan Pathan and Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav taught in schools run by the district administration and also ran private coaching centres.

They were in touch with a man from Delhi, one Gangadhar, who used to put them in charge with NEET aspirants willing to bend the rules and pay hefty sums for help.

Chennai:

The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday launched a campaign to obtain 50 lakh signatures in 50 days seeking to abolish the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

Chief Minister MK Stalin was the first to endorse the campaign, taken up by the party’s youth, students, and medical wings, with his signature and casting a postal ballot.

His son and Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who launched the initiative at Kalaivanar Arangam here, said the DMK has been striving to abolish the screening test, which has been claiming the lives of innocent students.

Displaying an egg (muttai) that in local parlance refers to zero with the letters NEET inscribed on it, Udhayanidhi ridiculed the Centre for reducing the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG to zero.

“This showed that those who don’t qualify for the NEET-PG can secure admission by paying money,” he alleged.

He called upon the political parties, especially the opposition AIADMK to put up a joint crusade against NEET.

Responding sharply to the invite, AIADMK Organising Secretary D Jayakumar lashed out at the DMK for deceiving the people on the issue.

“Now, finally the DMK has let out its secret on how to abolish the NEET in the country,” he said and added that so long as people remained gullible, the tricksters would take advantage of them.

He quoted a song from late Chief Minister M G Ramachandran’s film, which means how long will these people cheat.

“The Chief Minister had said that he would abolish NEET by a single signature. Now the people, particularly the students, are wondering if the Chief Minister and his son have forgotten to put one signature to ban NEET,” Mr Jayakumar said, ridiculing the signature campaign.

At least now the DMK should stop enacting political drama on the issue and apologise to the people for its inability, he said in a statement here. It should also give up playing with the lives of the students, the former state minister said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)