On the last day of the winter session of the 15th Lok Sabha, the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj gave a sterling speech as leader of Opposition. She summed up the achievements of the House, thanked colleagues across party lines, and said the thing to note was that the House was made up of virodhis and not enemies. She said, “We discuss and debate, sometimes much too intensely. But it is never personal.” The BJP’s reaction to Rahul Gandhi’s recent speech in Parliament does not fit the debate-and-discuss label. From Amit Malviya to Rajnath Singh, Kiren Rijiju to S. Jaishankar, Pralhad Joshi to Biplab Deb, Shahnawaz Hussain to Baijayant Jay Panda, the reactions flowed --- hostile, shrill, bordering on the personal.

Sharpshooters

“You have a mixed personality with shades of Churchill as well as Chamberlain.” That is how a young Atal Bihari Vajpayee from the Opposition benches had accused Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament. In his 1999 speech, also in Parliament, Vajpayee recalled how the older politician not only did not take offence, but complimented him. Recalling the incident Vajpayee remarked, “Aajkal aisa alochona karna dushmani ko dawat dena… Today, such criticism would be tantamount to throwing down the gauntlet.” Last week, Rajyavardhan Rathore, whose Twitter bio reads "Member of Parliament, Olympic Medalist, Indian Army, National Spokesperson BJP", tweeted: “Is Rahul Gandhi's script writer from Peiking (sic) or 'Pindi??” Panda called Gandhi “king of comedy”. And Singh invoked Nehru, as if he were only Mr Gandhi’s grandparent and not India’s first Prime Minister.

Nothing personal

In 2003, reacting to leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi’s choice of words to describe the BJP-led NDA government on campaign trail, Vajpayee had reacted in Parliament by advising for close to an hour on the language and style of parliamentary debates. Sonia had called the BJP-led government “incompetent”, “irresponsible”, ”insensitive” and “brazenly corrupt”. Vajpayee’s expression changed from disgust to disgust, his tone from reprimand to anguish as he read a portion of the speech. He said, “Sabhya tarike se ladiye.” Counter, but be civil. By the time it was 2013, the precedent of Opposition leaders rushing to the well of the House chanting slogans of “Prime Minister chor hai” had been set. A decade on, the offensives intensified, the debate got diluted. Mr Gandhi’s own hug-and-wink act from some years ago was an unparliamentary spectacle. Rijiju said last week, "I personally don't take Rahul Gandhi seriously. But because he's a leader of his political party and has spoken these words on the floor of the House, I have to take note of this,” as if bestowing a great favour unto democracy. Indeed you have to, Mr Rijiju. Not for nothing is it called the House of the People.