Poll results moral defeat for Modi but he is continuing as if nothing changed: Sonia Gandhi
New Delhi, Jun 29: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the Lok Sabha poll verdict has signalled a "personal, political and moral defeat" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi but "he is continuing as if nothing has changed".
In a newspaper article, she claimed there is "not the slightest evidence that he (Modi) has come to terms with the electoral outcome or understand the verdict".
She said that when the prime minister's "emissaries sought unanimity for the post of Speaker", the opposition INDIA bloc agreed to support the government.
"But in keeping with convention and tradition, it was only fair and to be expected that the post of deputy speaker would be given to a member from the ranks of the opposition," Gandhi said.
But this "perfectly reasonable request" was found unacceptable by the government, she said, adding the opposition alliance is committed to restoring balance and productivity in Parliament.
"On June 4, 2024, the verdict of our country's electorate was delivered clearly and resoundingly. It signalled a personal, political, and moral defeat for a prime minister who had awarded himself a divine status during the campaign," the Congress leader said.
"Yet, the prime minister continues as if nothing has changed. He preaches the value of consensus but continues to value confrontation," she said.
She also described the mention of Emergency by the prime minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker and BJP leaders as an attempt to divert attention from the "assault on the Constitution".
"It is a fact of history that in March 1977 the people of our country gave a categorical verdict on the Emergency, which was accepted unhesitatingly and unequivocally," Gandhi said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on June 26 read out a resolution in the House condemning the imposition of Emergency in 1975 as an attack on the Constitution by then prime minister Indira Gandhi, triggering vociferous protests by the Congress.
Prime Minister Modi welcomed the Speaker's reference to Emergency in the Lok Sabha and said it was important for the youths as the period was a "fitting example of what happens when the Constitution is trampled over, public opinion is stifled and institutions are destroyed".
In the newspaper article on Saturday, Gandhi mentioned the passage of the three criminal laws and the suspension of 146 MPs from the two Houses of Parliament during the Winter Session and said the three legislations should be kept in abeyance till they have undergone full Parliamentary scrutiny.
Enacted last year, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam are set to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. The three new legislation will come into force from July 1.
About the ongoing controversy over the medical entrance exam NEET, Gandhi said, "The prime minister, who does his 'Pariksha pe Charcha', has been conspicuously silent on the leaks that have devastated so many families across the country."
Asserting that the opposition will continue to raise people's issues, she hoped that the prime minister and his government would respond positively.
"The initial evidence does not augur well, but we in the Opposition are committed to restoring balance and productivity in Parliament," she said.
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Trump returns from China; terms meeting with Xi as 'G-2'
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump returned from a visit to China, describing his discussions with President Xi Jinping as a meeting of leaders of "two great countries".
Trump landed at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on the outskirts of the US capital on Friday evening, claiming to have struck important trade deals, including one for China's purchase of 200 aircraft from Boeing, with a promise for another 750, as well as agreements benefiting the American agriculture sector.
The US President reached here after a brief refuelling stop at Anchorage in Alaska.
“It’s the two great countries. I call it the G-2. This is the G-2. I think it’ll go down as a very important moment in history,” Trump told Fox News in an interview after meeting Xi on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s remarks put China on an equal footing with the US, exactly what Xi had aimed to achieve with the visit.
“Over two days of meetings here, the carefully choreographed pageantry and the reciprocal gestures of friendship and respect between the world’s two most powerful men displayed a geopolitical dynamic that the Chinese have long craved and Americans had resisted," the Post said.
Trump told Fox News that the relationship with Xi was important and suggested that China may not resort to any aggressive moves over Taiwan, at least till he is in office.
“It’s not a takeover. They just don’t want to see this place — we’ll call it a place because nobody knows how to define it — but they don’t want to see it go independent,” Trump said.
“I don’t think they’ll do anything when I’m here. When I’m not here. I think they might, to be honest with you,” Trump said.
"I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down," he said.
"We're not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China's going to be OK with that," he added.
The US President said he had invited Xi for a visit to Washington in September.
“Xi has done something Chinese leaders have been working toward for decades — bringing an American president to Beijing as an undisputed peer,” said Julian Gewirtz, who served as China director on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.
“Xi used the opulent optics of the visit to make clear to the world that China and the United States are the two dominant, equally matched superpowers. There is no going back.”
Trump’s friendly statements toward Xi and the Chinese people were being amplified in China’s state-controlled media, sending the message that “we’re getting along better with the Americans,” John Delury, a senior Fellow at the Asia Society, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
It was understandable that Trump wanted to be polite to Xi, but that the American president’s gushing approach “weakens Trump and the US”, R. Nicholas Burns, the ambassador to China during the Biden administration, was quoted as saying in The New York Times.
“Xi did not hesitate to warn Trump over Taiwan. Trump should not hesitate to be frank about our concerns, too,” he said.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet at least three times this year.
The US President has invited Xi to the White House in September.
Trump may travel to Shenzhen in China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in November. And Xi could come to the G-20 summit in December in Miami.
“This is a summit again that was heavier on symbolism than it was on substance — focus on managing problems, not on solving the problems that exist between the US and China,” said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan in the Biden administration.
“The way that both leaders talked about the future indicates that this is going to be part of a process that will play out this year,” said Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of State in the Biden administration.
