Indias political heatwave intensifies

New Delhi: Sitting on opposite sides may not just be the differentiating factor between the government and the Opposition anymore. Even though one gets to govern the country while the other tries to keep them in check, ideological differences eternally keep them on their toes.

However, mounting an aggressive attack on the Opposition, specifically Congress heir apparent Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister and the PMO unveiled an all out attack against India’s Grand Old Party.

In an interview with a national news agency, Prime Minister Modi said, “Both the PM and the PMO are very much part of the constitutional scheme. Extra-Constitutional authorities were really wielding power in UPA.”

He said that violence or any discrimination against any community would not be tolerated.

In his interview, Modi clarified the government’s stance on various policies and minced no words in lashing out at the Opposition and Rahul Gandhi. He said, “Any suggestions on land bill favouring the poor, the farmer, and villages will be accepted by the government.”

“Passage of both Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the proposed Land Acqusition laws is a matter of time,” he said.

Reiterating his stand on Congress’ repeated attempts to demean his government’s efforts, Modi said, “Congress has not been able to digest its crushing defeat in Lok Sabha polls even after a year.”

He said, “Our focus will be on pro-active, pro-people good governance reforms. The Opposition is levelling baseless allegations about my foreign trips.”

What has RaGa got to say?

Rahul Gandhi, now touring Kerala, said the Congress will fight for the rights of the fishing community and wouldn’t be intimidated by the Prime Minister and “five or six of his friends in suits”.

The Congress vice president, who was speaking at an event in Thrissur, said that the ban was not just a fight against fishermen but against the ‘soul of the country’ just like the Land Acquisition Act which he said was against farmers.

“No one has ever won a fight against the soul of this country,” Gandhi said.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is currently touring Kerala. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost File

The Congress vice president said that the Modi government seemed to believe that farmers, fishermen and other weaker sections of society could be pushed around as they attempted to push through their agenda.

“From today they (the Modi government) will have to be very careful who they pick a fight with,” he said.

Gandhi claimed that the fishermen community was being ignored because they would not be able to “give money to Mr Modi’s friends.”