Modi@8: From hugging Rahul to tearing apart the Congress, the prime minister's memorable moments in Parliament

Can anyone forget the time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi entered the halls of Parliament for the first time?

Emotions had run high on 22 May 2014 when Narendra Modi, the then prime minister-designate stepped into Parliament at the meeting held in the Central Hall where he was elected leader of the National Democratic Alliance.

On his entrance, which was seen by a million people across the country, Modi had bowed down, with his forehead touching the stairs, to register his high respect for the “temple of democracy”.

With tears in his eyes, he had then said at the Central Hall of Parliament: “We are here in the temple of democracy. We will work with all purity... not for the post but the people of the country. Work and responsibility are the biggest things. I accept the responsibility you have reposed in me.”

Since then, Narendra Modi has been a Parliamentarian of high standards, and his speeches, though rare, have always grabbed eyeballs and been worthy of headlines.

As we mark his eight years in office as the prime minister, here’s a throw back at some of his most unforgettable Parliament appearances.

A speech worth remembering

In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi minced no words when he took on the Congress in his reply to the debate in Lok Sabha on Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the Parliament.

Amid the Opposition's criticism of the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Congress’ “arrogance” had not gone away despite multiple electoral defeats.

In his speech that ran for over 100 minutes, he called the Congress the leader of ‘tukde, tukde gang’. “Congress has lost the appetite for power but believes in the policy of sowing seeds that will strengthen separatist forces,” he had said in his address.

He also alleged that Congress leaders, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, "gave free tickets" to migrant workers in Mumbai which resulted in the spread of infection.

He added, “It is not about winning or losing elections, it is about people’s intentions,” he said, adding that “criticism is an ornament of a lively democracy, but blind opposition is disrespectful to democracy”.

Modi tears up in Rajya Sabha

The prime minister doesn’t hold back on his emotions and that was clear in February 2021 when he choked up while bidding farewell to Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Rajya Sabha.

Putting aside political rivalry, Modi heaped praise on the Congress veteran and teared up as he shared an episode when they were both chief ministers — of Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.

“I have known Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad for years. We were chief ministers together. We had interacted even before I became chief minister, when Azad Sahab was very much in active politics. He has a passion not many know about - gardening,” PM Modi was quoted as saying.

The prime minister recalled how Azad had reached out to him in 2006 after Gujarati tourists were killed in a grenade attack in Srinagar.

“I will never forget Shri Azad's efforts and Pranab Mukherjee's efforts when people from Gujarat were stuck in Kashmir due to a terror attack. That night...Ghulam Nabi Ji called me...,” he recalled, fighting tears, and paused for water.

“He sounded concerned like people are concerned about their own family members. That is the kind of feeling he showed.”

Narendra Modi remarked that Azad was a tough act to follow. “The person who will replace Ghulam Nabi ji as Leader of Opposition will have difficulty matching his work because he was not only concerned about his party but also about the country and the House,” he said.

Azad returned the praise, noting that the prime minister kept personal ties separate from the context of party politics. “We sparred in the House, we had long arguments, but you never let it affect personal bonds,” the Congress leader said.

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Modi’s triple talaq push

Narendra Modi stoked controversy in June 2019 when he was pushing for the passage of the triple talaq bill in Parliament.

Speaking in Lok Sabha, he had hit out at the Congress for repeatedly missing out on opportunities for supporting women’s empowerment in India.

“When it comes to women empowerment, the Congress had many opportunities but they are so high they didn’t see what's happening [on the ground],” PM Modi had then said.

Narendra Modi then mentioned the controversial Shah Bano case, saying that the Congress once again missed out on promoting gender equality.

“Thirty-five years later they got another opportunity — in the Shah Bano case. The Supreme Court helped them fully and even the situation in the country was pro-gender equality. But they once again missed the opportunity,” PM Modi said.

He then said that during the Shah Bano episode, a Congress minister had claimed that the upliftment of Muslims is not the responsibility of the party.

“I would like to remind the Congress what a minister said during the Shah Bano episode. What the minister said in a TV interview was shocking. He said, ‘The upliftment of Muslim is not the responsibility of Congress. If they want to lie in the gutter...let them be’.”

The prime minister’s comment caused a stir in the Lok Sabha with Congress MPs booing the allegation.

To this, PM Modi rebuts, “I will send you the YouTube link.”

A hug and a wink makes front page news

Parliament proceedings have often made front page headlines.

In June 2018, this went one step further, when Rahul Gandhi, who was on the offensive against Narendra Modi, walked up to him in Lok Sabha and then suddenly hugged him.

It was a role reversal of sorts when Rahul, who had been criticising the prime minister for his ‘hugoplamacy’ with world leader, walked up to Narendra Modi and then suddenly embraced him.

A stunned Modi didn't stand up to receive the hug, but he recovered quickly and called him to pat him on the back and shake hands. It remains a secret as to what Modi told Rahul Gandhi during the short meeting.

Modi’s LOL moment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in the past told MPs that Parliament was losing out on its wit and humour.

His attempt at being witty in 2018 was one that evoked guffaws and thumps from the Treasury benches.

It all happened in February 2018 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was replying to a debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha.

He claimed the concept of Aadhaar was mooted in 1998 by the then Home Minister LK Advani, who spoke about a universally used national identity card.

At this point, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury laughed loudly.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu wasn’t quite amused, and decided to call her out for her apparent unruly behaviour. To make his point, he told Chowdhury, “If you have some problem, go to a doctor, please.”

The prime minister then interrupted: “Please do not scold Renuka ji, Mr Chairman. After Ramayana serial this is the first time I’ve had the privilege to hear such laughter.”

Chowdhury hit back calling Modi's remark as "denigrating the status of women".

With inputs from agencies

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