PM Modi dodged questions, undermined Parl: Kharge

The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to answer issues raised by the Opposition during his reply to the President’s Address.

Reacting to Modi’s 97-minute speech in the Upper House, Kharge said the PM did not respond to any of the points raised by the Opposition.

He alleged that instead of addressing questions, Modi spoke at length about historical timelines while remaining silent on current concerns flagged in Parliament.

Kharge referred specifically to issues related to national security and the controversy around claims made by former Army chief General Manoj Naravane in his published book. He said senior ministers, including the Defence Minister, denied the existence of the book in the House despite it being publicly available.

He argued that such denials amounted to misleading Parliament and said the government failed to provide a factual reply when the matter was raised by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress chief also rejected the PM’s allegation that the party had insulted the Sikh community.

Kharge said the claim was based on a private conversation between individuals and did not represent the Congress’ position. He asserted that the party had consistently respected the Sikh community and pointed to Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Finance Minister and twice as Prime Minister under the Congress-led governments.

Kharge accused Modi of repeatedly targeting Congress leaders instead of engaging with issues raised in Parliament. He said personal remarks and repeated references to the past had replaced substantive replies on governance, internal security and economic policy.

He also criticised comments made by the PM about public sector undertakings, saying institutions such as HMT, HAL and BHEL were built to support national self-reliance when basic manufacturing capabilities did not exist in the country.

On parliamentary functioning, Kharge said frequent disruptions and adjournments reflected the government’s reluctance to allow democratic debate. He said the failure to run Parliament for several consecutive days showed an unwillingness to answer uncomfortable questions.

He also accused the Centre of selectively invoking intelligence inputs, alleging that such claims were used to justify the PM’s absence from debates while lapses in internal security, including incidents of violence against minorities and Dalits, went unaddressed.

The Congress president further criticised Modi’s comments on farmers and trade policy, alleging that recent decisions had hurt Indian farmers while benefiting foreign agricultural interests.

He said farmers were being asked to bear the cost of policy choices made without adequate consultation.

Kharge said criticism from the Congress was directed at the PM’s ideology and governance record, not his personal background.