'Butchers can't be preachers,' retorts BJP to Congress' Uttarakhand carp
New Delhi: ‘Butchers cannot be preachers’, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday, mounting a counteroffensive against Congress, which has accused the Modi government of "murdering democracy" by imposing President's rule in Uttarakhand.
"Butchers cannot be Preachers. Congress which dismissed more than 100 non-congress governments right from E M S Namboodiripad, under article 356, is now criticising BJP. Ridiculous!," Naidu tweeted on a day Congress disrupted proceedings in Parliament over bringing Uttarakhand under central rule.
“Butchers cannot be Preachers”. Congress which dismissed more than 100 non-congress governments (1/2)
— M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) April 25, 2016
right from E. M. S. Namboodiripad, under article 356, is now criticising BJP. Ridiculous!! (2/2)
— M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) April 25, 2016
Naidu had earlier targeted Congress calling it "mother of defections".
Read: On day 2, Congress MPs protest over Uttarakhand disrupts RS proceedings
"The Congress government at the Centre dismissed EMS Namboodiripad's first democratically-elected Left government in Kerala, despite its majority in the Legislative Assembly in 1959," Naidu had said against the backdrop of Left joining hands with Congress in targeting the Centre over the political developments in Uttarakhand.
Facing opposition onslaught over the Uttarakhand issue, the Modi government has decided to take rivals head-on, citing instances of states being placed under central rule when Congress, Janata Party and United Front were in power.
Read: In Parliamentary meet, BJP decides to corner Cong over VVIP chopper scam, Ishrat case
An internal document circulated in the government notes that out of 111 times President's rule has been imposed since 1951, "Congress governments and those propped by it imposed it 91 times" including "45 times during the 16-year tenure of Indira Gandhi" and "10 times during the 10-year rule of Manmohan Singh".
Parliament session began on Monday with a face-off between the ruling and opposition benches as the Modi government was slammed over imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.
Read: Ruckus in Parliament as Government, Opposition spar over Uttarakhand
Amid opposition demand for a discussion on the issue, Congress members created a ruckus in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, accusing the BJP-led dispensation of toppling democratically-elected governments of opposition parties, a charge rejected by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
