Parliament Budget session day 3: Oppn sparks row over Kumbh stampede; Rahul Gandhi gives fierce speech in LS

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday slammed Rahul Gandhi for his remarks about India's production system and Chinese aggression along the borders in the Parliament.

In an interview with India Today, Nirmala Sitharaman raised questions about the Congress-led UPA government's 2008 memorandum with China and urged the party to disclose it.

She also defended India's manufacturing industry, highlighting the developments made in the smartphone manufacturing sector.

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BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his India-China remarks and said, "Rahul Gandhi's Made in China speech today exposed how he and Congress are 'chamchas' of China... Congress, during Nehru's time, had a China slant. Under Rahul Gandhi, Congress has surrendered to China."

"He glorified China and belittled Bharat. He mentioned the word 'China' 34 times... People of India will never accept this and they will not forgive Rahul Gandhi for speaking in such a manner as Leader of Opposition," he told ANI.

Congress MP Kiran Kumar Chamala told ANI, "He was very practical, clear in his line that the Presidential speech should be more concentrative towards consumption, production and also the technology of this country where the youth should have to focus. Our country is still dependent on China for the production side."

"We are only working on the consumption side. Our asset is consumption but we are not concentrating on production. Make in India is an utter flop and in this Budget, the Presidential speech was not concentrated on the production, youth, per capita income, employment, none of the issues have been addressed. It was a clear speech, very simple which people of country could understand," he added.

Congress leader Mallu Ravi said that Rahul Gandhi made a meaningful speech in the Lok Sabha today.

"He has suggested where we are going wrong, about production, marketing and encouragement of youth for employment... He questioned the removal of Chief Justice of India... and made a meaningful speech today," he said.

BJP leader Sambit Patra, during a press conference, said that, "I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that coronation happens only in the Gandhi family. Donald Trump had his swearing-in ceremony. Foreign ministers of QUAD nations were invited. The way you tried to belittle India, such an inferiority complex towards one's own nation is not right... Till 2014, only the PM appointed the election commissioner. It is PM Modi who included the LoP in this process."

BJP MP Sambit Patra said, "I feel like addressing him as 'Rahul Jinping'. He took China's name 34 times... He must be praying that he gets to be Chinese in his next life... Rahul Gandhi said that manufacturing in China is high and India is lagging."

"From 2004-14, the trade deficit between India and China was 25 times high... He said that only 1-2 companies are given importance in the banking sector and poor people are being neglected... PM Modi gave loans to 51 crore people under MUDRA scheme... Congress was against the UPI system... Today, 500 million transactions are taking place through UPI," he said at a press conference.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju expressed anger over Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi's remarks on caste census and OBC. He said, "In the last 2-3 years, Rahul Gandhi has been talking about SC, ST, OBC. Prime Minister is the biggest OBC face in the country. Can he not see that? PM of the country is an OBC. He is the most popular leader in the world. Can he not see that? Is Rahul Gandhi blind?"

"I am an ST. I am working as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister of the country. MoS Arjun Ram Meghwal is working as the Law Minister, he is an SC. Can't he see that? Did Congress party ever make a Tribal or Dalit the Law Minister of the country? Did Congress make an OBC the Prime Minister? I think Rahul Gandhi doesn't know what he says," Rijiju told ANI.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi described Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's speech as "powerful and impactful" because "it mentioned a new direction for the nation".

Speaking to ANI, Gogoi said, "He was motivating the youth of the country to move forward in the field of education and technology so that the country's industry could compete with Chinese companies. It is unfortunate that today, most of the imports in India are from China and have been increasing since last few years... BJP is afraid because they do not have an answer to his words."

After BJP moved a privilege motion against Sonia Gandhi, Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan said, "Whatever is happening in the House, has never been its culture. BJP should have learnt from Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh how they laughed off the insulting terms used for them."

"As far as the Privilege Motion is concerned, I want to clarify that we are not going to be afraid... They have failed on every front. To divert the people from the failed budget, they came up with this," she told ANI.

Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC reacted to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha speech and described him as "a comedy of errors".

"Every time he makes a statement, he speaks and then thinks. Maybe the time has come for him to think and then speak. When he wins, he says this is a victory of the Congress party. When he loses, he either claims it is bogus voting or EVM tampering. The less said the better about somebody who needs to first grow up, read up and then question," she told ANI.

The BJP MPs have moved a Notice for Breach of Parliamentary Privilege, Ethics and Propriety "through usage of derogatory and slanderous words against President of India with the motive to lower the dignity of the highest office" by Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi.

Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske spoke on Rahul Gandhi's demands for voters' list and said that "it is already available on the website, declared by Election Commission".

"This was very childish," he told ANI.

TMC MP Kirti Azad said, "Questions have to be raised...If we compare (the number of votes) in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, there were questions that the Election Commission should answer and provide the data that is being talked about."

Union minister Sukanta Majumdar slammed Rahul Gandhi for his Lok Sabha speech and said, "He was repeating himself. He thinks that the President's speech was old; a laundry list but he keeps repeating himself. He keeps speaking on caste census. He had memorised 4-5 new issues this time... He made so many allegations without any authentication or proof."

"During the Maharashtra elections, why was Congress' BLA not present at the polling booths?... He thinks people will look at his gymed body and vote for him. That is not how it works," he added.

Following Rahul Gandhi's remarks on external affairs minister S Jaishankar's US visit, the latter has said that the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha "deliberately spoke a falsehood about my visit to the US in December 2024".

"I went to meet the Secretary of State and NSA of the Biden Administration. Also to chair a gathering of our Consuls General. During my stay, the incoming NSA-designate met with me," Jaishankar wrote in a post on X.

He further said, "At no stage was an invitation in respect of the PM discussed. It is common knowledge that our PM does not attend such events. In fact, India is generally represented by Special Envoys."

"Rahul Gandhi’s lies may be intended politically. But they damage the nation abroad," Jaishankar added.

Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the appointment process of the Election Commissioner, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha's statement is "ironic, given that during Congress rule, appointments were made solely by the ruling government without any transparency".

"If the Congress truly believed in democratic integrity, why didn’t they implement these reforms in their decades of power? This hypocrisy highlights their political posturing—preaching transparency now after years of opaque governance. The people of India can no longer be misled by such double standards. Practice what you preach before demanding trust," he said in a post on X.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "He (Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi) specifically talked about the kinds of challenges that India needs to rise to if want to become a more developed nation, if we want to keep our youth employed. He talked about the importance of production, he talked about the importance of participation of all sections of society. He also raised some serious questions about the fairness and integrity of the electoral process in order to protect the Constitution. It was a totally different approach to perhaps what may were expecting. Therefore, it has given people a lot to think about."

Tharoor further said that it was good that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House at the time of Rahul's speech.

"I think that the arguments that he made will deserve further reflection and response form the Government which is precisely what the LoP should be doing," he told ANI.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Waqf Amendment Bill headed by Sh. Jagdambika Pal submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Sh. Om Birla in Parliament House today.

Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde reacted to Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Maharashtra election results and said, "Like always, he was trying to mislead everyone. He started on a good note, but raising questions over Maharashtra election results, election commission and judiciary... He should not stoop to this low."

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said, "One of the historic speeches of the Parliament. It was a visionary statement from Rahul Gandhi. Anyone can blame but everyone saw how he presented the issue of unemployment and caste census... Democracy is in danger in this country... The government has to clarify the reason behind removing the CJI from the selection body of the Election Commission... It was one the best speeches of the Parliament."

Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi slammed the appointment process of Election Commissioner.

He said, The rules have been changed. The Election Commissioner used to be chosen by the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice was removed from that committee. This is a question to the Prime Minister, why was the Chief Justice removed from the committee?"

"Now in a few days, I'm going to go to the meeting. It will be PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and me, 2-1. Why even am I going to the meeting? I am only going there to certify what Modi ji and Amit Shah are going to say...Just prior to Lok Sabha, the Election Commissioner was changed and 2 new Election Commissioners were placed. We know that the election dates were changed," he added.

Appreciating her brother and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's speech, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi said, "A speech of a leader should be like this only where he lays down a vision for the country. I really liked his speech."

Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha said, "We are saying to the Election Commission, please give us the names and addresses and polling booths of all the voters in the Lok Sabha and all the voters in the Vidhan Sabha Saba, so we can calculate who these new voters are."

"Interestingly the new voters are mostly in the constituencies that the BJP has swept. I am still not making an allegation. I am saying on the Floor of the House that the Election Commission has to give the data... I am very confident that the Election Commission will not give us this information," he added.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha cited that almost 90 per cent of the population in Telangana is either Dalit, Adivasi or backward or minority, saying that he is convinced that the story is the same across the country.

"The OBC population of the country is not 1 less than 50%...If we look at the largest corporates in this country, none of them are owned by OBCs, Dalits or Tribals...Central to any new development paradigm is the architecture of a new paradigm and that architecture of the new paradigm can only be built once the caste sensus is placed on the table," he added.

Rahul further said, "There are OBC, Dalit and Adivasi MPs in the BJP. Remember, OBCs have 50% of the population and you have absolutely no power. I know that you're sitting there and you cannot even open your mouth. That is the truth of the country."