Editor's Pick: Modi and the 'tukde-tukde gang'

Extensively quoting India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to counter former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused the principal Opposition party of promoting divisions in the country by pitting States against the Centre and referred to it as the leader of ‘tukde tukde’ (break-up) gang. In his nearly 100-minute-long reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister charged the Congress with following ‘divide and rule’ policy and accused the party of committing a paap and crossing all limits by politicising the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Modi accused the Opposition-ruled States of Maharashtra and Delhi of creating a sense of panic by asking ‘migrant workers’ from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to travel during the lockdown of the first COVID-19 wave and said that resulted in a spike in cases in U.P, Uttarakhand, and Punjab, all incidentally States where Assembly elections are scheduled between February 10 and March 7. Tearing into the Congress, Mr. Modi pointed out that States such as Nagaland, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, U.P., Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha have not allowed the Opposition party to win an election for over three decades or more. The Congress seems to have ‘made up its mind’ not to come to power for the next 100 years, he quipped and added that despite a string of defeats, the leadership has neither shunned its “arrogance” nor does it like a “mirror being shown to them.” Accusing the Opposition party of being unable to get over its 2014 Lok Sabha debacle, Mr. Modi said “criticism in a vibrant democracy is like an ornament but blind Opposition is disrespecting the democratic mandate.” The report on Mr. Modi’s reply is the lead in the newspaper as no prime minister in recent times has ever accused the Opposition of fomenting division in the country – though the remark was in the context of politicising the pandemic. Also, by using a pejorative term to describe the Opposition, a term used by the ruling BJP party to describe its critics, the Prime Minister waded into controversy. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. 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[Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Modi and the 'tukde-tukde gang' [Modi and the 'tukde-tukde gang'] Extensively quoting India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to counter former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused the principal Opposition party of promoting divisions in the country by pitting States against the Centre and referred to it as the [leader of ‘tukde tukde’ (break-up) gang](. In his nearly 100-minute-long reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s Address in the [Lok Sabha]( the Prime Minister charged the Congress with following ‘divide and rule’ policy and accused the party of committing a paap and crossing all limits by politicising the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Modi accused the Opposition-ruled States of Maharashtra and Delhi of creating a sense of panic by asking ‘migrant workers’ from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to travel during the lockdown of the first COVID-19 wave and said that resulted in a spike in cases in U.P, Uttarakhand, and Punjab, all incidentally States where Assembly elections are scheduled between February 10 and March 7. Tearing into the Congress, Mr. Modi pointed out that States such as Nagaland, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, U.P., Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha have not allowed the Opposition party to win an election for over three decades or more. The Congress seems to have ‘made up its mind’ not to come to power for the next 100 years, he quipped and added that despite a string of defeats, the leadership has neither shunned its “arrogance” nor does it like a “mirror being shown to them.” Accusing the Opposition party of being unable to get over its 2014 Lok Sabha debacle, Mr. Modi said “criticism in a vibrant democracy is like an ornament but blind Opposition is disrespecting the democratic mandate.” The report on Mr. Modi’s reply is the lead in the newspaper as no prime minister in recent times has ever accused the Opposition of fomenting division in the country – though the remark was in the context of politicising the pandemic. Also, by using a pejorative term to describe the Opposition, a term used by the ruling BJP party to describe its critics, the Prime Minister waded into controversy. [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? 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