New Delhi:
The Lok Sabha today witnessed a heated exchange between the treasury benches and the Opposition after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was sent to the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President to ensure a US invite for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister seated in the House, BJP MPs led by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju strongly objected to Mr Gandhi’s remark and said he cannot make such unsubstantiated statements linked to the country’s foreign policy.
Addressing the House during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, the Leader of the Opposition said he “struggled” to maintain his attention through the President’s address “because I had heard pretty much the same President’s address the last time and the time before that and the time before that”. “It was the same laundry list of things that the government has done,” Mr Gandhi said.
He then said the country has not failed to tackle the problem of unemployment. “Neither the UPA government nor today’s NDA government has given a clear-cut answer to the youth of India about employment,” he said.
Mr Gandhi said the share of manufacturing in India’s GDP had fallen from 15.3 per cent in 2014 to 12.6 per cent today despite the Narendra Modi government’s Make in India push. “I am not blaming the Prime Minister. It would not be fair to say he did not try. Make in India was a good idea but Prime Minister Modi failed,” he said.
Mr Gandhi said the country’s record in organising production is dismal. “We have handed over organisation of production to the Chinese. Every time we use a phone, wear a Chinese shirt or sneakers, we pay a tax to China. If we don’t focus on production and continue to focus only on consumption, we will run huge deficits, increase inequality and run into a social problem because of unemployment,” he said.
Mr Gandhi said China controls the bulk of production data and US the consumption data. “So if India wants to talk about AI, it has to answer the question, what data is going to power that? The answer today is India does not have the data, neither production data nor consumption data,” he said, pushing for the need to build a production network.
In this connection, Mr Gandhi referred to the Trump inauguration event. “When we talk to the United States, we would not send the foreign minister three-four times to get an invite for our Prime Minister because if we had a production system and we were working on these technologies, the US president would come here and invite the Prime Minister,” he said.
The remark drew loud protests from the treasury benches. Mr Rijiju said, “The Leader of the Opposition cannot make such serious, unsubstantiated statements. This is about the relationship between two countries. He is making unverified statements about the invitation of our Prime Minister. He should be responsible. If the Leader of the Opposition has the information, he must tell the House who has told him that the Foreign Minister visited for this purpose.”
Mr Gandhi responded with a quip. “I am sorry if that question disturbed you. I apologise for disturbing your peace of mind. I am sorry.”
Mr Rijiju said Mr Gandhi must apologise for lying in the House. “The Leader of the Opposition must be serious,” he said.
Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th US President was held on January 20. External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar attended the event as India’s representative. Prime Minister spoke to Trump days after the inauguration and is likely to visit the US soon.