The Narendra Modi government won the no-confidence motion in Parliament on Friday night after a marathon debate that lasted for 12 hours hands down. Congress president Rahul Gandhi's unprecedented hug and wink act in Lok Sabha became the biggest talking point of the day during the keenly-watched no-trust motion debate across the country. After launching a vitriolic attack on PM Narendra Modi and his government, Rahul Gandhi walked up to Modi and gave him a hug. The Congress president's points created an uproar in the House. At night, PM Modi gave a point-by-point rebuttal to Gandhi's speech. During his reply, PM Modi urged all parties to reject the no-confidence motion. The BJP has moved a privilege motion against the Congress president over his speech. The debate that lasted for close to 12 hours was kicked off by Jayadev  Galla of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who moved the no-trust motion.

Though the outcome of the no-confidence motion moved by the Telugu Desam Party was a foregone conclusion since NDA and its allies have a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the debate on the motion gave the opposition parties a chance to pin down the BJP-led NDA on many counts including on the Rafael fighter deal. However, the debate will be remembered not for the 90 minutes reply the Prime Minister gave but for Rahul Gandhi coming out of his so-called and much maligned ‘Pappu’ image. The nearly 45 minute speech was often interrupted by the treasury benches and even the Speaker was forced to adjourn the House for a while.

While the PM devoted most of his time attacking the Congress and ridiculing its young president for his “hug and wink,” Modi made the show a battle between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, which the BJP always wanted to avoid. No doubt, nobody in the Opposition including Rahul Gandhi can match the Ciceronian oratory skills of Narendra Modi, he himself gave Rahul a long rope to walk with. Most significantly, both Rahul and Modi used the debate to launch their election campaigns for 2019.

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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