The Congress has hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP amid the row over mimicry and mass suspension of MPs, stating the Prime Minister has been insulting his political opponents for years.
Congress general Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh raked up old videos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, showing him targetting senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hit out at the BJP.
"The Prime Minister has said that he has been suffering insults for the last twenty years. But what will he say about the way he has insulted his political opponents and used abusive and indecent language against them in the last 20 years? This is their cliched way of diverting attention from the real issue," Ramesh said.
His response came as Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was mocked by TMC MP Kalyan Mukherjee, claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a phone conversation, mentioned how he had been at the receiving end of such insults for 20 years.
Ramesh had also hit out at Amit Shah stating that the MPs were suspended because the Home Minister wanted the three draconian Criminal Justice Bills passed in the Lok Sabha without any informed dissent.
Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed three key bills the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill that seek to overhaul the criminal justice system.
Besides Jairam Ramesh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also questioned the media's alleged apathy in highlighting the pain and agony of the suspended MP. He alleged that the media "was totally running on one line" and focused on the mimicry incident.
Rahul Gandhi said, "MPs were sitting there, I shot their video. My video is on my phone. The media is showing it. Nobody has said anything. 150 of our MPs have been thrown out (of the House) but there is no discussion on that in the media. There is no discussion on Adani, no discussion on Rafale, no discussion on unemployment."
Two more opposition members in Lok Sabha were suspended on Wednesday for displaying placards, taking the total number of members of the lower House against whom such action has been taken to 97.
With these fresh suspensions, the total number of members suspended from the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha since December 14 has gone up to 143.
