Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi did not have a pleasant Thursday morning.
First PM Narendra Modi hinted that he has an inferiority complex.
Then, he attempted to put the Gandhi scion in his place by quoting his father Rajiv Gandhi, twice, on the need for decorum in Parliament, then his grandmother Indira Gandhi about nationalism, and then his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru about the need for cooperation to keep Parliament moving.
All of this without mentioning Rahul Gandhi once.
Was the PM smarting from Rahul's blistering attack against him in Parliament on Wednesday?
"Narendra Modi is a powerful man... I know you (ministers) are afraid of him. But even then you should speak up a bit," Rahul had said.
So here's PM Modi today in the Lok Sabha: "There are some people who do not become wise with age." Could he have been referring to 45-year-old Rahul?
And here he is again: "Some MPs have an inferiority complex and that is why the House is stalled."
PM Modi then decided to give Parliament, particularly the opposition and even more specifically the Congress, some lessons on how to conduct oneself in Parliament.
However, he did so by quoting various Gandhi family Prime Ministers, actually, all three of them.
"Debate will be more fruitful if procedure is followed ... these are not my words, this was said by former PM Rajiv Gandhi," Modi said.
Then again, talking about the Congress ridiculing the 'Make in India' programme, PM Modi said: "
Why are we mocking things like 'Make in India'? This is for the nation." He added that if there are shortcomings in the programme they should be discussed.
Guess whom he quoted to drive home this point about nationalism?
Yes, Indira Gandhi.
"During an event in IP (Indraprastha) College in 1974, Indira Gandhiji said that we shouldn't portray our nation as weak," Modi said.
Modi also took on the Congress criticism that the Modi government was not helping the poor.
"No one will deny that if the Congress would have helped the poor in 60 years, the poor wouldn't still be facing trouble. Some people are concerned about how we are doing things they could not do in the last 60 years," he said.
Modi then referred to India's first Prime Minister Nehru and his speeches in Parliament about cooperation and urged the opposition to help the government pass crucial legislations, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill.
"Some things...some things, they are your bequest, yours," Modi said.
In Rahul vs Modi, Round 2 to the Prime Minister - Times of India