Initiating the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address from the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi stirred up a controversy with his remark “Those who call themselves Hindus are the ones who talk of violence”.
Soon after the remark, members of the ruling party, led by PM Modi and Amit Shah, strongly objected to the remark, saying that calling the entire Hindu society violent is a serious issue. The PM intervened, saying that the Constitution has taught him to take the Leader of the Opposition seriously.
Shah said that crores of people are proud to be Hindus, do Rahul Gandhi think that all of them are violent. However, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi hit back, saying that Modi and Shah cannot claim to be the sole representatives of the Hindu community.
Responding to Gandhi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the House functions under established rules, procedures and traditions and historically no other issue has been raised during the motion of thanks on the President’s address.
The Congress leader further stressed that all religions talk of courage, citing Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism to underline the importance of fearlessness.
He accused the BJP of launching a systematic attack on the Constitution and the basic idea of India and said that lakhs of people have opposed the ideas proposed by the ruling party.