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Updated: Jun 25, 2019 08:19 IST

Sparks flew in Parliament on Monday during a fierce debate in the Lok Sabha on President Ram Nath Kovind’s address as the treasury benches slammed critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for building a “false narrative” during the Lok Sabha election campaign and the Opposition alleged the government was “driven by manipulation”.

Flush with its thumping electoral mandate, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chose Union minister of state for animal husbandry Pratap Sarangi to lead the charge. Sarangi, a first-time lawmaker from Odisha, criticised opposition parties for questioning the surgical strikes and demanded they apologise to the PM while underlining his party’s nationalism plank.

“Why is the Opposition so hesitant in praising the prime minister? The election verdict was unprecedented. The experiment of 2014 was a success and people gave the slogan ‘ab ki baar 300 paar’ (this time, beyond 300). The son of a tea-seller has become Prime Minister — why don’t you accept it? At least understand now that people do not like dynasty,” said the former chief of the Bajrang Dal in Odisha.

The Congress and other opposition parties didn’t relent either.

Congress’s floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was “addicted to compliments” and claimed the BJP falsely accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi but failed to send the two top Congress leaders to jail. The debate got ugly because of certain remarks made by Chowdhury about the Prime Minister; he later offered to apologise to the PM and the remarks were expunged by the Chair.

Other Opposition speakers, such as the Trinamool Congress’s Saugata Ray, kept up the combative tone and took potshots at the government over the controversial National Register of Citizens.

Overall, the tone and substance of the debate at this early stage in the life of the 17th Lok Sabha indicated that politics would continue be severely polarised, and that parties are already looking at future elections with an eye on key social constituencies.

Opening the debate to thank the President for his speech in the joint sitting of both Houses last week, Sarangi blasted the Opposition for questioning the surgical strikes and forging an adulterated (“maha milawati”) alliance even as Congress members protested that the minister was only busy praising the PM and not talking about the President’s speech, widely taken to be a roadmap of the government’s five-year agenda.

An undeterred Sarangi “thanked” the Opposition as the hero’s importance could be felt only if there is a villain. He shifted effortlessly between Hindi, English, Odiya and Bengali and sang two shlokas in his speech. He maintained that the “tukde, tukde gang” — a reference to those who BJP accuses of wanting to disintegrate India — has no place in the country, taunted the Congress for raising doubts about the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and for failing to get enough seats to get the Leader of Opposition’s status.

Congress and Trinamool Congress took objection as Sarangi drew a parallel between 19th century Bengali spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda (his real name was Narendranath Dutta) and Narendra Modi. Sarangi also launched a frontal attack on the Trinamool in Bengali, criticising West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for not allowing the people of Bengal to avail the benefits of some of the Centre’s welfare schemes such as Ayushman Bharat. Banerjee has claimed that her state has a more robust healthcare scheme.

Pitting Sarangi to initiate the debate was a calculated move. The BJP was signalling the importance of first-time MPs after 268 such MPs got elected to this House. The fact that Sarangi is from Odisha, and also spoke in Bengali, was a sign that the BJP would continue to make a strong political push in the east, where it made unprecedented inroads this time in West Bengal and Odisha. And his identity as a former president of Bajrang Dal in Odisha meant that the party was using Sarangi’s Hindutva credentials to appeal to its core base.

He was followed by Heena Gavit, a young Scheduled Tribe face of the party from Maharashtra. As the BJP has made an effort to expand its base among the more marginalised sections of the society, this too was seen as a key choice to send a social message.

“I think it’s a calibrated positioning for the BJP that has already set its eye on eastern India for the next phase of expansion. Be it Assam, West Bengal or Odisha, the BJP has new political fields to explore, said Achirangshu Acharya, an economist with Viswabharati University.

Congress’s Chowdhury, a five-time MP from Berhampore in West Bengal, too made a strong political pitch. He said the BJP had earlier raked up controversies like the 2G spectrum sale and coal scam but was not raising them now because the issues have lost traction among the people. Modi, Chowdhury claimed, was “a big salesman” and the BJP succeeded in the Lok Sabha elections because it sold its product well while the Congress could not sell its product.

Among the Opposition, those who spoke during the Motion of Thanks include Trinamool Congress’s Saugata Ray, Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) Pinaki Mishra, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s TR Baalu, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party’s Midhun Reddy, and the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Danish Ali.

Ray, opposing the Motion of Thanks, raised the issue of the ongoing process of updating the NRC in Assam. “Thousands have lost their citizenship in the process and the home minister wants to implement it next in West Bengal,” Ray said.

He added that the BJP government’s priorities were questionable and it lacked legislative clarity. He also opposed the use of EVMs and demanded that paper ballots be brought back, which led to protests from the treasury benches. Trinamool MPs had, earlier in the day, staged a protest in Parliament against EVMs.

In a sign that hostility between the BJP and the BJD has reduced after the elections, Pinaki Mishra said that it was time for the Centre and different states to forget their animosity and work on constructive cooperation among them. He added that it was time the Women’s Reservation Bill — which proposes to reserve a third of seats in Parliament and legislative assemblies for women — be taken up, and if the BJP government can pass it if it wanted.

“During the election, we have seen a lot of acrimony and fight between the political parties. But the time has come to engage in a constructive role. The debates would continue and has its importance, but the real test would be how the legislative business goes forward,” said former parliamentary affairs secretary Afzal Amanullah.