The illustration could not have been more telling.
When Rahul Gandhi asks questions about the Adanis and Narendra Modi, they are expunged from the parliamentary records.
When the Prime Minister asks the Congress MP why his surname is Gandhi and not Nehru, the apparent epitome of ancient culture stays unscathed in the annals of civilised discourse.
“I asked the Prime Minister some questions (in the Lok Sabha last week). I asked him about his relationship with Mr Adani and I asked him how Mr Adani got rich so fast. The Prime Minister did not answer a single question,” Rahul Gandhi said in Kerala on Monday.
“His (Modi’s) response to my questions was ‘why are you not called Nehru, why are you called Gandhi?” Rahul recounted at a public rally.
Rahul underscored that while the questions that he had raised in decent language were expunged from the records, the Prime Minister’s “insults” about his surname remain.
“Most of my speech was edited out and was not allowed to go on the record of Parliament,” the MP said.
“At the same time, the Prime Minister directly insults me. He says (in the Rajya Sabha) ‘why is your name Gandhi and not Nehru’. So the Prime Minister of the country directly insults me but his words are not taken off the records.”
Rahul mentioned in passing that generally in India, “our surname is the surname of the father”.
“According to the rules, parts of a speech can be removed from the record if you are saying something without support or if you are insulting someone. I did not insult anybody, I used the kindest language, the most polite language, and everything that I said was based on proof. I was asked to show proof with regards to what I said and I have written a letter to the Speaker with every single point that they have removed and the supporting proof,” Rahul said.
Rahul suggested a barometer to rate the response of Modi and himself. “All you have to do was look at my face when I was speaking and look at his face while he was speaking. Look at how many times he drank water, how his hand was shaking when was drinking and you will understand everything,” Rahul said.
The Congress leader, on his first visit to his constituency after the completion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said he was not scared of Modi. “He thinks he is very powerful and people are scared of him. He doesn’t realise the absolute last thing that I am scared of is Narendra Modi. It doesn’t matter whether he is the Prime Minister of India, or whether he has all the agencies. It doesn’t matter. Because the truth is not on his side. And one day he will be forced to face his truth.”
He drew the attention of the people to the rise of the Adanis. “If you get a chance see the Parliament speech, because it is important that you understand what is going on in the country and you understand the nexus between the Prime Minister and Adani. There is a list of wealthy people in the world, and in 2014 Mr Adani was 609 on that list. From 609th on that list, he became second.... He got the airports, the ports, coal contracts, mining contracts, road contracts, agriculture....”