Debate Begins In Lok Sabha On A Combative Note

Minister Sarangi opens salvo alleging ‘false narrative’ against PM; Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury calls Modi a ‘salesman’

Opening the debate on the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha on Monday, firsttime MP and Minister Pratap Sarangi described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a rare statesman and nation builder. He asked the Opposition to “apologise for building a false narrative against Mr. Modi” during the election.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury hit back, calling Mr. Modi a “big salesman”, and said many of the government’s claims were a “travesty of the truth”.

Credit-taking

For most parts of the first half of the Motion of Thanks to the President, members of the Treasury and Opposition Benches were engaged in competitive credit-taking, each side claiming credit for India’s achievements.

Mr. Sarangi, who broke into Sanskrit, Odia and Bangla while mainly speaking in Hindi and English, recited shlokas and poems in his scathing attack on the United Progress Alliance and the Congress.