00:00Let me bring in Sanju Verma, BJP National Spokesperson, also Rajat Sethi, Political Analyst.
00:05Sanju Verma, what we witnessed today was unprecedented.
00:09Never before that in India or Indian political history has a mock parliament been held in the House of Leader
00:19of Opposition.
00:20What Mr. Singhvi was saying right now is actually summing up what all has been happening.
00:25That there is a civil society movement, there is a political movement and a legal fight.
00:30Is the BJP getting worried of the larger culmination, what it can have, the impact?
00:36You know, Maria, so I was listening to Mr. Singhvi and I just have to say this.
00:42When he says that there is no space for the opposition during routine parliamentary proceedings,
00:48you know, Rahul Gandhi is not given an opportunity to vent, you know, his voice is cut and
00:55impeachment proceedings are not admitted.
00:57Mr. Singhvi also mentioned that.
00:59I think Mr. Singhvi has forgotten.
01:00And very humbly through your show, I would like to suggest, Maria, do remember that ahead of Loksava 2024 elections,
01:07in August 2023, Gaurav Gogoi had moved a no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
01:14And guess what? At the peak of the debate, because the debate was all about Manipur,
01:20they said we don't trust this government with respect to Manipur, so we are moving a no-confidence motion.
01:26When Prime Minister Modi started speaking, Rahul Gandhi was not there, Priyanka Padra was not there in the House,
01:33Gaurav Gogoi, who had moved the no-confidence motion against this sitting government of the day,
01:38was to be seen nowhere.
01:40So the basic limited point I'm making is that the opposition, instead of casting aspersions at the ruling dispensation,
01:48needs to do some Atma Chintan, needs to do some Atma Manthan.
01:52And tell me honestly, each time Rahul Gandhi has wanted a debate on supposedly crucial issues,
01:59the government of the day has always been willing to engage.
02:02I will just very quickly, without being verbose, let you know,
02:05When Rahul Gandhi wanted a discussion on abrogation of Article 370, we said yes, he went MIA.
02:11Rahul Gandhi wanted a discussion on CAA, we said yes, he went MIA.
02:16Rahul Gandhi even wanted a discussion on the reputation of instant triple talaq, we said yes, he went MIA.
02:23Rahul Gandhi wanted a discussion on inflation, unemployment, Manipur,
02:27Even on the Ram Janma Bhumi Mandir issue, before the Supreme Court verdict came in,
02:32we said yes to every, you know, topic that he wanted a dialogue with the government.
02:40But he is the one who has been MIA.
02:42You cannot do shoot and scoot politics.
02:45If as the leader of the opposition, he wants to be taken seriously.
02:49Let's bring in Rajat also on the screen, please.
02:50Why is his average attendance in the last three Lok Sabha sessions 37% vis-a-vis All India average
02:59of 79.6%?
03:02I mean, can't Rahul Gandhi explain why he is MIA all the time?
03:05He said, even after demonetization, because I remember the demonetization debate went for months together,
03:13much after it happened.
03:14I'll come back to you.
03:15Sanjeev Arma, I want to understand from Rajat Sethi if he knows what MIA means.
03:20I think it's very cool.
03:22Missing in action, right?
03:24Of course.
03:26Of course.
03:27Rajat, you know, the fact that the BJP is also fighting against the Congress on the streets.
03:34Many would say that the arena here is being chosen by the Congress party,
03:38because they realize that they do not want to fight it out in the parliament.
03:43They would be rather holding protests against the BJP and the government.
03:46Today and day before and tomorrow and the day after, it will be only competitive narrative setting on the streets.
03:56That's what we'll be witnessing.
03:59So, Maria ji, I'll try and explain to you from the sweet irony around which Singhvi sahab was just speaking
04:09a while back.
04:10It was coincidentally Singhvi ji himself who pointed that in Telangana, I believe, that there are 30 or 40 lakh
04:18illegal voters.
04:20In fact, he and his party had been saying that there are around 50 lakh illegal voters in the state
04:27of West Bengal.
04:29Now, things have turned, and this is what is so ironical.
04:32A person who earns his bread and butter respectfully, Singhvi ji, has been, over the past two, three weeks, has
04:41been lambasting courts.
04:43He's like, let us not go to courts.
04:45I mean, an institution, and you should owe your bread and butter to an institution like the Supreme Court.
04:53And on channels, on ANI, and all of these interviews, you go out and say, hey, let's not go to
04:58the courts because you will not find the justice in the courts.
05:00Let's hit the streets.
05:02So, the essence of the thing is that you do not want to prove on a neutral constitutional bodies like
05:10the Supreme Court or even when you attempted going to the president, you should have presented the proofs.
05:16You did not do that.
05:18My simple submission here is that BJP is very happy.
05:20They are very happy that a non-people's issue of the SIR has been taken up because then the genuine
05:27issues which you could have brought to the foray have been sidelined.
05:30This is done to the whims of one prince who just suddenly feels that all Andhome Kana Raja, like all
05:37the people around him have lost the election, and suddenly he can become the leader of the India Alliance.
05:42That's the heart of it.
05:43This is the reason why Akhile Shatav and a bunch of very matured opposition leaders are focusing on the ground.
05:49They know that SIR is a reality, that doing all of this drama of mock parliament, etc., is not going
05:55to yield them anything.
05:56Today, I was surprised to see they did a mock parliament.
05:59Tomorrow, they will publish a mock constitution and then put up a mock chair.
06:04A white towel they will spread and sit on it and they'll say that, okay, this is mock prime minister's
06:08chair.
06:09Let them be happy on a mock prime minister's chair.
06:11But Rajat, you know, I'm going to take that question to Sanju Verma.
06:17Sanju Verma, if the opposition indeed does that, you know, first a public impeachment of a constitutional authority like an
06:26election commission.
06:28And if it is followed by what Rajat Sethi is saying, isn't that a matter of concern for you?
06:34You are in power.
06:36Let's be very honest.
06:38You're a very seasoned journalist and you know this very well.
06:42That since 2014, ever since Narendra Modi took charge at the helm of affairs, all I've been hearing is, you
06:49know, and this is not with offence to you, Maria.
06:51I do a zillion debates.
06:52And if BJP wins, the questions are asked of BJP.
06:57If BJP loses, the questions are asked of BJP.
07:00If Rahul Gandhi wins, questions are not asked of Rahul Gandhi.
07:04If Rahul Gandhi loses, questions are still not asked of Rahul Gandhi.
07:08Rahul Gandhi is being treated by the Darbari ecosystem as the next best thing after brown bread and spaghetti.
07:15No, but you are also responding to Rahul Gandhi, Sanju ji.
07:20Hey, Maria ji, a minute, a minute.
07:22I want to say one thing.
07:24I'm sure you're aware of this, but this needs to be reinforced.
07:27In addition to what Rajat said,
07:29India is one of the very few, I think it is perhaps the only parliamentary democracy where you have something
07:37called the zero hour.
07:39During question hour, if you need to raise an issue from the opposition's side or even from the treasury benches,
07:45you ideally need to give to the speaker or the chair of the house a 10-day notice.
07:50You know, wide rule 255, 256, 267, blah, blah, blah.
07:53I'm trying to understand that zero hour is such an innovation which is specific only to India's parliament.
08:02And it is a tool which actually the opposition should be using to make the government of the day accountable.
08:09Because you don't need to give an advance notice.
08:12But remember, in the last so many sessions, winter session, monsoon session, budget session, zero hour tak baat pohonchte nahi
08:20hai hai.
08:21Zero hour normally commences at 12 in the afternoon.
08:23Jaisehi Loksama starts or Rajasama starts by 10, 30, 11.
08:28There is a breaking news.
08:30Parliament adjourned for the day.
08:31Loksama adjourned for the day.
08:32Rajasama adjourned for the day.
08:34What I'm trying to tell you is, why has Rahul Gandhi not utilized zero hour?
08:38Why has Priyantavadra not utilized zero hour to raise, you know, credible questions when they feel that their voice is
08:44not being heard?
08:45Zero hour ki aap usage kariye, apni awaz ko janata tak pohonchayye, apni awaz ko sadan ke andder rakhye, zor
08:53shor se.
08:54Why are you not using the parliamentary, you know, procedures available to you?
09:01And what is this entire gibberish about having a mock parliament is Rajasad.
09:06Kala bologai, supreme court ki judgment hamko sahih nahi laghi.
09:09We are going to have a mock judicial proceeding.
09:13Is that how democracy will work?
09:15Oh, you know, street veto can never replace the democratic ethos of the country.
09:20And I'm reminded of Yogendra Yadav, because I think everybody's taking a leaf out of his book when he said
09:25a couple of months back,
09:27Ahre, abhi sansar mein nahi sadak par faisla hooga.
09:31So I want to tell Yogendra Yadav and the entire darbari ecosystem, which, you know, is observant to his rants,
09:39that sadako par faisla nahi hooga, faisla sadan mein hooga.
09:44Aar yadi aap ko sadan ke faisla se koi aitraaz hai, you can knock on the doors of the court.
09:51But do not try to undermine the judicial process, the parliamentary procedures, by having this tamasha.
09:57This is nothing more than a tamasha, Mariya.
09:59Sanju Verma and Rajas Sethi really appreciate your time.
