The Bharatiya Janata Party-run government can’t be blamed for the lynchings across India. That seems to be the chief takeaway from the arguments offered by ruling party politicians during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Opposition had hoped to do better this time than it did last fortnight on its first attempt to question the government on allegations that the BJP seems to implicitly support lynch mobs mobilised under the pretence of cow protection.

The first time around, coming off the momentum that had been generated by the Not In My Name protests across the country, the Opposition put forward some strong questions, only to see it all friterred away when one member decided to talk about Hindu gods turning up on liquor bottle labels. Suddenly, lynching was no longer the headline. In fact, a BJP Member of Parliament even got away with saying the Hindu god reference was as bad as a lynching.

Monday’s discussion did not feature any evidently outrage-worthy comment but, coming as it did after the BJP had successfully elected its presidential candidate and engineered its way into government in Bihar, the discussion felt more like an afterthought. Some members did give strong speeches. But those too were overshadowed by a surprising set of events in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP was embarrassed because not enough members had turned up for a crucial vote.

While the Opposition may not have achieved much with the discussion, statements from BJP MPs offered a clear sense of the narrative that the government has either internalised or is seeking to peddle – one where it takes no responsiblity for the atmosphere of impunity that appears to be evident.

BJP MP Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, for example, said the gaurakshaks who ended up lynching people were intentionally doing so simply to defame the current government. He also broadened the definition of lynching quite considerably, asking why disputes over Hindu festival processions being refused access to certain public roads should not also be referred to as “lynching” – which he rhymed with finching several times in his statement.

But Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju’s reply at the end of the discussion laid out clearly how the government sees the matter. So clearly in fact that, rather than talking about those who had died in lynchings, he chose to make his final point a warning to the Opposition.