'Fearlessly speaks truth': Priyanka Gandhi defends brother Rahul against BJP's LoP barbs

Priyanka Gandhi said Rahul is the one who has not bowed before Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New Delhi: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday shot back at the ruling BJP for questioning Rahul Gandhi’s suitability as Leader of Opposition (LoP), saying he is the one who has not bowed before Prime Minister Narendra Modi even as she found amusing that those who were criticising Jawaharlal Nehru 'round the clock' are showing respect by citing his remarks.

Her remarks came during the debate on resolution seeking removal of Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker when Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju referred to Priyanka as a more suitable Leader of Opposition besides quoting Nehru's speech in Lok Sabha on 18 December, 1954 when a similar resolution on G V Mavlankar was being debated.

In a 1:12 minute intervention after Rijiju’s speech, the Wayanad MP said, “there is only one person in this country who has not bowed before them in the last 12 years. That person is the Leader of the Opposition (Rahul). And because he stands in this House and fearlessly speaks the truth, they simply cannot digest that truth.”

During his nearly one hour speech after Congress’ Gaurav Gogoi opened the debate, Rijiju took an apparent swipe at Rahul and said, “Priyanka Gandhi is sitting there and is laughing. If they had made her the Leader of the Opposition, the performance would have been better. At least she sits in the House, listens, and also smiles.” Rahul was not present in the House.

Rijiju also quoted Nehru as saying, “I would beg of members sitting opposite, those who have signed it and those who are duty bound have supported it, to read that thing which they have signed, It is a vicious thing they have signed. I doubt whether the people read it before they signed it. If they had read it, they would have hesitated a hundred times before they signed that document.”

Priyanka said those who criticise Nehru day and night are praising him today. She was referring to BJP's relentless attack on Nehru with leaders from PM Modi targeting the first Prime Minister on policy issues after Rijiju quoted from Nehru’s 1954 speech.

“Today I felt like laughing, because the very person they criticise day and night -- Pandit Nehru -- has suddenly been quoted by them in support of their own argument. All of a sudden, they have started showing respect for Nehru ji. Suddenly they are saying that it was Nehru ji who strengthened the world’s largest democracy and delivered such a speech in the House,” she said.

Separately, she told reporters that the Modi government has "stripped" the Speaker of their independence when the Congress and the Opposition are fighting to preserve the independence of the Speaker.

"These people are trying to destroy every institution. We are fighting to save every institution on which India's democracy rests. BJP people cannot digest these facts, so they try to divert the House from the issues. My grandmother Indira ji used to say -- if someone tries to show a false image, the people of the country will know the truth anyway," she added.