Rahul show flops in House

http://www.thestatesman.net/ page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=195589

RC Rajamani

NEW DELHI, March 16: If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stole the thunder from the Opposition with his political sallies the week before last, the Rahul Gandhi show last week on the loan waiver ended in a whimper in the Lok Sabha. His prepared speech was weak throughout the ten minutes it took and “inspired” only the Congress benches that were full, trying to cheer a grim looking Rahul.

In only his second major speech in the House in four years, Rahul presented the “variable land ceiling” norm based on productivity (for extending the benefit of the Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver announced in the Budget for 2008-09) as an original suggestion and received instant applause from party members. Clad in a white kurta pyjama, his now customary costume, the 38-year old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family showed no emotion during his 10-minute speech that he delivered in a measured tone as Congress members watched in apparent awe. He also received cheers now and then from his party colleagues. His mother, Ms Sonia Gandhi, was present in the front seat with her usual inscrutable expression.

The loan waiver scheme was the common thread that ran through the discussion on the general budget in both Houses with the Congress members hailing the scheme and the Opposition as well as UPA’s left supporters picking holes in it and questioning the whole philosophy behind the bonanza. A major Opposition contention was that the waiver would only benefit 27 per cent of the farmers as the rest of them had taken loans from private money lenders, not banks or financial institutions.

The main Opposition BJP accused the government of making the budget a veritable “instrument of communal appeasement and vote-bank politics”. Initiating a discussion, Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the political leadership was busy in dividing the people on the basis of religion, caste and socio-economic development levels. The Prime Minister’s assurance of extra weight to Muslims in education and employment was against the concept of ‘One India’ and spirit of the Constitution, he said. Mr Rupchand Pal (CPI-M) doubted whether the benefits of the loan waiver scheme would reach the indebted small and marginal farmers.

During the discussion on the railway budget, the Opposition pilloried its proposals and ridiculed them as Lalu Prasad’s “web of illusions.” What was galling to the treasury benches was the way even its Left supporters poured scorn on the various proposals. Mr Prabodh Panda (CPI) said Mr Prasad’s claim of causing a turnaround in railways’ fortunes like a magician was misleading and the fancy announcements made in the budget were all “full of tricks”. The best speech came from Ms Sushma Swaraj (BJP) in the Rajya Sabha where she marshaled facts to argue that many of the passenger benefits were only “illusory”.

Rahul Gandhi’s nocturnal visits to tribal areas in Orissa caused a flutter in both Houses. Members from BJD, which is heading the coalition in the state, expressed concern over Rahul’s security and also resentment at his “irresponsible” behaviour. Braja Kishore Tripathi said Rahul had hurt the federal structure of law and order by his unscheduled visits to ‘naxalite’ areas without informing the local police. This led to heated exchanges between BJD and Congress members during which Rahul entered the House and joined his mother Sonia Gandhi in her watching brief. The week also saw the passage of the railway budget and vote on account of the general budget.