look news india
New Delhi. In the lower house of Parliament i.e. Lok Sabha, Thursday was entirely in the name of newly elected Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Speaking on serious topics like women’s reservation and delimitation, Priyanka reminded us of the ‘old etiquette’ of politics, which is becoming rare in today’s polarized politics. In his first major legislative speech, he launched such a scathing attack on the ruling party with facts, history and a smile that it electrified the opposition benches.
Interestingly, even Home Minister Amit Shah could not stop laughing at Priyanka’s sharp words and Rahul Gandhi expressed pride in his sister’s performance.
Starting with Nehru’s legacy: That document of 1928
Priyanka Gandhi started her speech by responding to the allegations which are often leveled by the ruling party against former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Citing historical documents he said, “You may not like it, but the foundation for women’s rights was laid way back in 1928.” He told that Motilal Nehru had prepared a list of 19 fundamental rights for women in 1928 itself. According to Priyanka, the seed of the idea of equal rights for women in Indian politics had germinated from there.
Told Amit Shah as ‘today’s Chanakya’, Home Minister also started laughing
Priyanka Gandhi proved her eloquence in the House when she pointed towards Home Minister Amit Shah. He quipped that Shah was the ‘Chanakya’ of electoral politics. Priyanka said that cleverness is not a bad thing in today’s politics and Amit Shah is so adept in this art that he might even teach ancient Chanakya something new.
Home Minister Amit Shah laughed out loud at this funny sarcasm. The positive effect of this was that when Shah stood up to reply, his tone remained relatively soft towards Priyanka and he talked about the issues rather than personal attacks.
Serious questions on delimitation and women’s reservation
Amidst the smiles, Priyanka left no stone unturned to corner the government. He expressed serious apprehensions regarding ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Act’ and delimitation. His main charges were:
Ignoring OBC women: He alleged that the government was compromising the rights of OBC women.
Framework of Delimitation: Priyanka said that the composition of the proposed Delimitation Commission is tilted in favor of the government.
Midnight Notification: Congress termed as ‘bizarre’ the notification through which the law came into force while the debate on the amendment was still ongoing.
Interesting story on lack of ‘women power’ in the frame
A unique sight was seen in the House when Priyanka was speaking on women’s reservation, but only male MPs were seen around her. On this, a senior MP said that Priyanka was to speak in the afternoon, when the woman MP was sitting behind her. One male MP even jokingly said, “You took our place even before reservation was implemented.” However, due to change in speaking timings the number of women MPs had reduced by the evening.
Rahul Gandhi’s appreciation and opposition’s enthusiasm
After the speech was over the atmosphere of the house had changed. Priyanka was not only congratulated by the opposition leaders, but her brother Rahul Gandhi also praised her. According to sources, Rahul considered this as a mature and impressive parliamentary debut of Priyanka.
Jairam Ramesh also raised questions on the government’s notification and termed it ‘completely puzzled’. Now it remains to be seen how much this new style of Priyanka affects the debate in Parliament in the coming days.
