New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s infantilising jabs at Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha have drawn a sharp response from the Congress and its allies. The Opposition has said the Prime Minister resorted to such attacks because he has no answer to the many questions on burning issues such as NEET row.

Replying to the Motion of thanks to the President’s address, the Prime Minister launched a scathing attack on the Congress and particularly Mr Gandhi, who had earlier hit out at the BJP in his remarks on Monday.

Addressing the Lok Sabha amid the Opposition’s slogans, the Prime Minister responded to Mr Gandhi’s allegations that the Centre had used probe agencies to target him.

“Laments of ‘balak buddhi’ went on. ‘I have been beaten’. A new drama was rolled out to gain sympathy. The fact is he is on bail in a corruption case of thousands of crore of rupees, was convicted for calling an OBC community thief and had to tender an apology before the Supreme Court for speaking lies,” he said.

“This ‘balak buddhi’ (childish mind) at times tries to hug someone in the House and sometime winks,” the Prime Minister said. He was referring to the 2018 episode in which Mr Gandhi had walked across the treasury benches and hugged Prime Minister Modi.

The Prime Minister used Gangs of Wasseypur’s popular dialogue, ‘Tumse na ho payega’, to mock Mr Gandhi and said the country was telling him the Congress leader that he is ‘not up to it’.

Hitting back, the Congress said 140 crore Indians had told the Narendra Modi government ‘tumse na ho payega’ in this election.

.@narendramodi जी,

2 घंटे 24 मिनट के अपने भाषण में आपने “तुमसे ना हो पायेगा” का जिस तरह से ज़िक्र किया, वही बात 140 करोड़ भारतियों ने इस चुनाव में आपकी सरकार से कही थी।

अन्नदाता किसानों ने आपके “आय को दोगुना” करने वाले झूठे वादों के ख़िलाफ़ वोट डालते हुए कहा — “तुमसे ना हो…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 2, 2024

In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also slammed the Prime Minister for calling the main Opposition party “parasite” and said he had used the term for protesting farmers too.

“The way you mentioned ‘Tumse Na Ho Payega’ in your speech of 2 hours and 24 minutes, 140 crore Indians said the same thing to your government in this election,” he said. “Modi ji, you have insulted the mandate. Understand the sentiments of the people, give up dictatorship!” the Congress chief said. 

Responding to the Prime Minister’s ‘parasite’ jab, the Congress chief said he had used the same word to refer to the farmers during their 2020-21 protest.

“You insulted the year-long struggle of the farmers for their rights. In front of that, your dictatorial government had to bow down and withdraw the three anti-farmer black laws.

“Today you have used the same word for the Congress party. This is not an abuse for the Congress party. It is a matter of pride for us to sacrifice our lives for nation building along with the farmers,” Mr Kharge said.

Congress’s ally Samajwadi Party, too, hit back at the Prime Minister for his “balak buddhi” jab at Rahul Gandhi. “All these things are said so that no one asks questions on NEET. Those saying balak buddhi are balak (children) themselves because when people have chosen someone, such comments should not be made. There are balak in the government who are still not able to understand the country’s problems,” Kannauj MP and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said.