Bitter start to session, PM Narendra Modi flags ‘strangling of voice’ by Opposition

Aditi Tandon

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New Delhi, July 22

The Budget session of Parliament was off to a bitter start on Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi lamenting “throttling of his voice” by the Opposition last session and the Congress hitting back with “you crushed people’s aspirations for a decade” barb.

Security breach

Just two months after the CISF took over the security of the Parliament complex, a breach occurred at one of the VVIP gates of the compound on Monday morning, the first day of the Budget session, when a motorcycle-borne Delhi cop managed to enter the complex without having a valid pass and the parliamentary security having no prior intimation about the vehicle.

In customary remarks at the start of the session, an unusually combative PM urged the Opposition to halt the games of political one-upmanship until the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and work for the country till then.

The Parliament is for the country, not parties, Modi said, adding that the people had delivered the 2024 poll verdict and it was time to move on.

“Since January this year, we have all fought as much as we could. Some tried to show a way, others tried to mislead. Now the polls are over and people have given a mandate. Now political parties have a special responsibility to fight for the nation, together, for the next five years. I urge all parties to rise above politics and work for the nation,” the PM said, adding that games could again be played in 2029, but this was the time to work for “Viksit Bharat”.

In strong castigation of the Congress-led INDIA bloc, Modi lamented constant interruption of his speech in the previous session.