New Delhi: During the motion of thanks to the President’s address in Rajya Sabha on Friday, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha emphasised the need for empathy from the government during the pandemic and said the biggest threat to Indian democracy is from “hero worship”.
Jha accused the government of dividing the country on the lines of religion. He also said those who tried to mess with the texts of the past ended up in the footnotes of history.
“I’m surprised that Pakistan doesn’t fight elections in our (India’s) name, but our elections are in Pakistan’s name…World history is witness that whoever has tried to mess with the texts of the past, tried to change them, ended up in the footnotes of history. History didn’t change,” he said.
Jha also spoke of the recent protest by railway-job aspirants for the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB).
“The President spends his day talking to his advisors, watching television, checking social media and having discussions. Does he not feel that the country’s visuals are not great. Tear gas on students…what were they demanding? They weren’t asking for the moon. They were asking for jobs. Not the ones paying Rs 2 crore, they said give us whatever is left. You lathi charged them. I think if the President’s address doesn’t have these worries, then the speech just feels like a piece of paper,” he said.
He said the President’s speech should be a non-partisan document. “The President is the President of the country. His concerns should be the country’s concerns,” he said.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi during strong nations cannot be built by insecure governments but can only be built where both its strengths and weaknesses are kept in front of the country.
“We heard the President’s speech with a lot of attention…after listening to his speech it felt like our country has entered a golden era; our youth is very happy, they have jobs, our women are very happy, they are safe and politically empowered. It felt like the common man has no issues of any kind,” she said.
“But the truth is in front of the country, and I hope and believe that strong nations are not built by insecure governments or insecure leadership. Strong nations can only be built where we can keep both our good and bad bits in front of the country.”
Chaturvedi said the President’s speech did not mention the farmers who had died during the farmers’ protest against Centre’s farm Bills.
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