Patna

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Saturday squarely blamed the opposition for Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipping the reply, in Lok Sabha, to the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's address.

The BJP leader claimed that before Modi was scheduled to make his speech, "40-50 MPs" had barged into Speaker Om Birla's chamber where they "spoke in a nasty way", which "made us decide that it would be better if the PM stayed away".

Rijiju, who addressed a press conference at the BJP office here, was responding to a query about the opposition's charge that the PM did not face the Lok Sabha as he was wary of charges levelled by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who had cited remarks about skirmishes with Chinese forces in a book authored by former Army chief M M Naravane.

"Let me be very clear that we are not afraid of anything. We are in power. We could have simply smothered our detractors inside the House by calling in the marshals. But we do not believe in such undemocratic behaviour. So, initially, we tried to get the opposition at the negotiation table," Rijiju said.

"But we took a different decision after 40-50 opposition MPs stormed into the chamber of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and spoke nastily ('anap shanap bole'). We realised they were itching for a fight and it would be better if the PM did not come to the House," he added.

"As a result, the PM, who went on to give a detailed speech in the Rajya Sabha, skipped the debate in the Lok Sabha, upon our request. Of course, we had the numbers so the Motion of Thanks was passed in Lok Sabha through voice vote," the minister said.

Earlier, talking to reporters at the airport, Rijiju had charged Gandhi, a former Congress president, with indulging in "frivolous rhetoric to remain in headlines" by claiming that his attacks on Modi had made the PM "flee the Parliament and he would be made to flee the country, too".

"The nation has made so much progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Now, the people of the country will never again repose their trust in the Congress which has weakened the country so much in the 60 years it enjoyed power," he alleged.

At the press conference that he addressed after taking part in a function on the Bihar Assembly premises, Rijiju also underscored that economic reforms will take place at a faster rate in Modi's third consecutive term in office.

"We call it a Reforms Express. It will not stop and move ahead at a fast pace to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. The budget presented recently has a lot to offer, especially to states like Bihar, where the requisite infrastructure has been developed and a vast population is ready to enter the job market," he said.

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Rijiju also rubbished the opposition's charge that Bihar was getting a raw deal from the Centre which has been shying away from announcing a special economic package for the impoverished state.

"A package is a tokenism which governments resort to when there is nothing substantial to offer. We are squarely addressing the needs of the state. Our style of functioning is different from that of the freebies culture promoted by Congress and Arvind Kejriwal (former Delhi Chief Minister who heads Aam Aadmi Party). We did bring in free ration, but it was during the COVID pandemic when normal life has come to a standstill," the minister added.