Arun Jaitley used pop-culture references to hit out at Congress. (File)Even as the Lok Sabha saw a heated debate on the Rafale issue, what caught attention during the proceedings was Arun Jaitley’s use of pop-culture references to hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the unprecedented sight of paper planes flown by Opposition members inside the House.
Accusing the Congress of being “conspirators” in three major scams — Bofors, National Herald and AgustaWestland — Jaitley referred to Ian Fleming’s James Bond to target the Congress chief.
“The Congress president must have watched James Bond films, in which Bond says, if it happens for the first time then it is happenstance, if it happens twice it is coincidence and if it is thrice then it is conspiracy. Congress President is doing the same,” the Finance Minister said.
#WATCH Moment when Congress MPs threw paper planes towards FM Arun Jaitley while he was speaking during #Rafaledeal debate in Lok Sabha (Source:LS TV) pic.twitter.com/4LuuBIUSPU
— ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2019
However, TMC MP Saugata Roy pointed out that Jaitley had misquoted the dialogue and took a swipe at the BJP leader. “Jaitley ji your memory is failing you. If it happens thrice then it is enemy action and not a conspiracy,” Roy said.
Jaitley also referenced to cult British sitcom ‘Yes, Minister’ to corner the Congress during the debate. He said that in the show, the most useless minister or ruler was the one who was in power but was incapacitated to make decisions. “The Congress government is such a government,” Jaitley said.
However, in unprecedented scenes, Opposition members started flying paper planes while Jaitley was making his speech. This led to a brief adjournment of the House, with Speaker Sumitra Mahajan admonishing the MPs for “childish behaviour”.
“We threw the paper planes as the discussion was on Rafale but they were talking about Bofors, Agusta Westland and National Herald. We want a JPC on this issue,” ANI quoted Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla as saying.
