Kharge’s witty dig at Deve Gowda leaves PM smiling

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday saw rare banter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also having a good laugh when Leader of Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who retired from the House, took a dig at him during the farewell speeches for outgoing Elders.

Delivering his farewell speech, Kharge spoke about former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and NCP leader Sharad Pawar, who were among the retiring members.

Kharge said Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister and served in several other capacities. “I have known him for 54 years and have worked with him. But I don’t know what happened. Wo Mohabbat humare saath kiye, shaadi Modi Sahab ke saath (he dated us, loved us, but married Prime Minister Narendra Modi),” he said, drawing a round of laughter from across the House.

The Prime Minister was seen laughing too. This light-hearted exchange was a welcome shift from noisy protests and acrimonious scenes in the last few sessions.

Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister for less than a year after the 1996 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress supported the United Front government he headed. HD Deve Gowda’s JDS tied up with the Congress in Karnataka for the 2018 state polls, and the alliance won.

Deve Gowda’s son, H D Kumaraswamy, became Chief Minister, but the State Government collapsed in 2019 after several Congress and JDS MLAs rebelled. JDS later allied with the BJP, explaining Kharge’s dig.

Kharge said he has had a long association with Pawar and DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, too, and he was glad that they are returning to the Rajya Sabha for another term. The Congress president also took a potshot at Union Minister and RPI (A) chief Ramdas Athawale. “He always praises Modiji in his poems. He doesn’t know any other poem,” he said, drawing smiles from Congress members.  “Those in politics, public life, neither get tired nor retire for the passion to serve the country,” Kharge added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi thanked retiring Rajya Sabha MPs for their contributions and wished them well, saying that there is “no full stop in politics”. “The future is waiting for you. Your experience and contribution will always be remembered,” he said.

He advised newly elected MPs to learn from veterans like Deve Gowda, Kharge and Pawar. “HD Deve Gowda ji, Mallikarjun Kharge ji, and Sharad Pawar ji are senior leaders who have spent more than half of their lives in parliamentary work. Newly elected MPs should learn from them,” he said.

Referring to Athawale, the Prime Minister said, “Sometimes we used to hear that there is a lot of opportunity for humour and satire in the House. These days, perhaps it is gradually decreasing. But our Athawale is evergreen.” The RPI (A) chief is also returning for another term in the Rajya Sabha.

Thirty-seven seats in the Rajya Sabha became vacant this year. While 26 candidates were elected unopposed, the remaining seats were filled after an election on Monday.