PM Modi was responding to the President's speech
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a swipe at Congress-led opposition in parliament today amid protests over BJP MP Ananthkumar Hegde's remarks about Mahatma Gandhi, sarcastically asking protesting parliamentarians: "Bas, itna hi? Aur kuch (Is that all? Is there anything else?)". As he stood up to speak, the opposition had begun chanting: "Mahatma Gandhi amar rahe (Long live Mahatma Gandhi)".
Minutes after the Prime Minister's question, the Congress's Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is his party's leader in the Lok Sabha, rose to declare: "Yeh to abhi trailer hai (This is just the trailer)", to which PM Modi, whose BJP has been repeatedly accused of attacking Gandhi, responded: "Aapke liye Gandhi trailer ho sakte hain... humare liye Gandhi-ji zindagi hain (Gandhi may be a trailer for you... for us he is life itself)".
In a speech punctuated by laughter (from BJP MPs), interruptions by Mr Chowdhury, vociferous protests by the opposition and a sharp dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Prime Minister hit out in defence of his government, reminding the opposition of the massive win in Lok Sabha elections last year, saying: "Had we also worked the way you did, nothing would have changed... and people wanted change... a significant change".
The Prime Minister was responding to a motion of thanks for President Ram Nath Kovind's Republic Day speech last month.
Earlier this week Anantkumar Hegde described the freedom struggle led by Gandhi as "drama" and said his "blood boiled" when he read history books referring to the same. The entire freedom movement was "staged with the consent and support of the British", said Mr Hegde, according to news agency ANI.
The ruling BJP quickly asked Mr Hegde to put out an unconditional apology for his remarks and senior leaders disassociated the party from the comments.
