Congress President and UPA Chairperson was never seen so aggressive. As the chairperson of Congress-led UPA, she did what she should have done. When BJP leader LK Advani called UPA illegitimate, Sonia Gandhi correctly pointed out that he went beyond the limit of discipline and she shed her usual reticence and spearheaded the protest against L K Advani in Lok Sabha, forcing the BJP veteran to unconditionally withdraw his disparaging reference to UPA government that questioned its legitimacy.
Sonia Gandhi and Congress benches erupted in protests when Advani, initiating a discussion on the recent ethnic violence in lower Assam, suggested that the UPA had lost its legitimacy after the controversial trust vote necessitated by the Left's withdrawal of support over the Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008.
The unwanted comment by by Advani naturally irritated the UPA chairperson and she furiously gesticulated towards the BJP benches. Taking a cue from her, Congress MPs interrupted Advani and insisted that the reference be withdrawn, rejecting Advani's explanation that his attack was directed at UPA-I rather than the current dispensation.
Sonia Gandhi made it clear to BJP benches that she was not willing to settle for anything less than an outright withdrawal of the remark, revealing an assertive side that is not usually visible. She has on occasions reacted to Opposition provocations, but on Wednesday showed sustained aggression till Advani bowed to the Speaker's advice and withdrew his barbed comment. Sonia Gandhi displayed the perfect quality of a matured leader.
With the uncharacteristic display of aggression, Sonia Gandhi seemed to fill the void that President Pranab Mukherjee has left. As leader of the House, it would have been left to Mukherjee to take on the BJP leader by intervening and challenging the disparaging reference to the 2008 confidence vote and description of the subsequent UPA-II government as an illicit entity. The Congress President again showed her class when she forced party MPs from Telangana to abort their plan to disrupt the House with their demand for statehood for the region.
A stern-looking Sonia Gandhi urged Congress MPs from Telangana not to disrupt proceedings. After the T-block raised slogans, Sonia Gandhi told the MPs that their behaviour is unacceptable, saying it gave the Opposition an opportunity to allege Congress is orchestrating sloganeering to stall Parliament.
Mincing no words, Sonia told the Congress MPs that they should not embarrass the party. Her intervention helped the government avoid sniping from within.
On a day marked with protests and uproar in the House, it was Sonia Gandhi who scored full points by displaying one of her best performances as a parliamentarian.
This article is posted by pressbrief.in
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