Bhookamp Aane Wala Hai: BJP Leaders Take a Dig at Rahul Gandhi Ahead of Trust Vote in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: In December 2016, a month after the Modi government demonetised high value currency notes, Rahul Gandhi warned of an “earthquake” if he were allowed to speak.

“The government is running away from debate…if they allow me to speak then you will see what an earthquake will come,” Gandhi, then the Congress vice- president, had said. On Friday, as he gets set to lead the Congress charge against the government, he was subject to ridicule by several BJP leaders and supporters, who joked that they were preparing for an earthquake.

“13 mts (months) for d (the) mover of d (the) motion n (and) 38 minutes for ‘earthquake’,” BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav tweeted. Union Minister Giriraj Singh also took a dig at Gandhi and said, “Get ready to enjoy the earthquake.”

BJP leader Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga said, “Heard @RahulGandhi is planning to boycott Parliament bfr his Earthquake speech. @ianuragthakur Ji taaala lgwa do aaj Gate pr, Rahul ji ki bhookamp speech sunne bina jaane na dena #BhookampAaneWalaHai.”

He followed that up with a tweet reading, “Please every start prayers kyunki aaj #BhookampAaneWalaHai”. Bagga then made a series of tweets using the hashtag #BhookampAaneWalaHai.

BJP’s IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya even started a survey, asking, “Today’s question: If there will be an earthquake every 15 minutes, then how many times will there be an earthquake in 38 minutes?”

As the main mover of the no-confidence motion against the government, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will initiate the debate on it in the Lok Sabha today and it has been allocated 13 minutes by the speaker. Jaydev Galla will be the first speaker of the party, followed by Rammohan Naidu. Congress, the main opposition party, has been allocated 38 minutes to present its views on the motion. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the leader of the party in the House Mallikarjun Kharge are likely to speak on it. Other opposition parties such as the AIADMK, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) have been allocated 29 minutes, 27 minutes, 15 minutes and nine minutes respectively. The ruling BJP, which enjoys a majority in the House, has been given 3 hours and 33 minutes in the debate, which is scheduled for seven hours.