Parliament has been turned into Rome’s Colosseum where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi enters “like a gladiator to the chants of Modi, Modi,” Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Mahua Moitra said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Participating in the debate on the demands for grants for the Ministry of Civil Aviation for 2022-23, Ms. Moitra invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to attack the government and went on to read out the names of women pioneers in the field of aviation who “truly deserve applause”.
Opening the debate, Congress’ Ravneet Singh Bittu questioned the government’s flagship regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, and claimed that only 405 of the 948 routes identified under UDAN have been operational.
Expressing concern over the cut in the allocations for the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB), Mr. Bittu said, “In the wake of the recent air crash in China, I would urge the Minister to seek greater allocations for the three divisions at the revised estimate stage.”
Echoing the Congress member on UDAN, Ms. Moitra questioned the need for a separate Aviation Ministry and suggested that it should be merged with the Transport Ministry, as is done in countries like the U.S. and Canada and the government should focus on easing the operational difficulties faced by private airlines.
She claimed that if one took away the debt financing of the erstwhile national carrier, Air India, then the Civil Aviation Ministry’s Budget was a meagre ₹1,242 crore. “Why do we need a separate Ministry for Civil Aviation?” she asked.
The TMC member then launched into a political attack and invoked a 1972 speech of Vajpayee. “These days the atmosphere in New Delhi makes one choke. It is not easy to breathe freely. The chanting of a Prime Minister’s name on All India Radio from morning to night, saturated propaganda on cinema screens, how can people sitting in the Opposition fight this,” she said, quoting Vajpayee.
“It is India’s greatest tragedy perhaps that the very party Vajpayeeji led as Prime Minister, today leads a government that has turned this very same Parliament into the Colosseum in Rome in the 1st century where like a gladiator the honourable Prime Minister enters to chants of Modi, Modi,” she added, referring to the welcome to the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha after the BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections.
Speaking before Ms. Moitra, BJP MP Mahesh Sharma mentioned UDAN as a success of the government, lauded the setting up of the Jewar International airport close to Greater Noida to cater to the growing needs of Delhi and lauded the Prime Minister for selling off Air India.
“Our Prime Minister believes that there is no business for the government to be in business,” Mr. Sharma said, adding that Air India has now rightfully gone back to Tata Sons.
