Congress President-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi for months has been ranting against the farm laws as he claims that the new laws will benefit the Ambanis and Adanis of the world. However, when the chance arrived to speak up about the farm laws on the floor of the parliament, a scared Rahul Gandhi appears to have run away.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a thundering speech in the Lok Sabha during the motion of thanks to the President’s address where he not only defended the farm laws but also hit out at those (read:Rahul Gandhi) who are making it their hobby to criticise the country’s private sector, the Congress scion was nowhere to be found as he failed to address the parliament and put forth his viewpoint on the farm laws. Rahul Gandhi led Congress MPs in staging a walkout during Prime Minister Modi’s speech in the Lok Sabha.
“To use improper words against the private sector may have got votes for a few people in the past but those times are gone. The culture of abusing the private sector is not acceptable any longer. We cannot keep insulting our youth like this,” said PM Modi.
Before PM Modi’s address in the Lok Sabha, senior Congress leaders were working overtime to convince Rahul Gandhi to initiate the debate on the general budget from the Opposition benches.
So @RahulGandhi ran away from debate in Parliament ?
Rahul Gandhi has not said a single word on #FarmersBill in Parliament
Not a single word #RahulRanAway
— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) February 10, 2021
“Rahul Gandhi will speak on the budget. He might also be the first speaker,” said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday evening.
“There is a plan for him to speak, but it is not confirmed whether he will open the debate,” said a close aide of Rahul Gandhi.
It is important to note that while Gandhi is yet to speak on the farm bills on the floor of the Lok Sabha, he is speaking against the laws on social media almost everyday.
It is now being reported that Rahul Gandhi is expected to speak in the Lok Sabha later today, which is his last window, as Gandhi then heads to Rajasthan.
Perhaps Gandhi saw how easily his fellow party MP, Ravneet Singh Bittu was exposed during the Joint Session of the Parliament when he attempted to spread white lies about the new farm laws as he falsely claimed that the laws will abolish the APMC mandis and pave way for the introduction of private mandis.
Gandhi knows that unlike on his social media, he will have to state facts on the floor of the Lok Sabha and any faux pass – something which is a key component of Brand Rahul Gandhi will grab national headlines and further discredit the already diminishing farmers protests. Add to the fact that PM Modi’s thundering speech where he took the opposition to the cleaners, perhaps left Rahul Gandhi with no option to run away from speaking on the farm laws in the parliament.