PM Narendra Modi was in his element as he spoke for nearly 90-minute in the Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks on President’s address. He did not let the din of shouting Opposition MPs affect him and spoke with his sense of humour intact. Referring to how some people had problems with names of government schemes with Sanskrit words, Modi said 600 government schemes were in the Gandhi-Nehru family’s name. In a jibe at the Gandhis, he asked “If Nehru was such a great person, why did the family shy away from using ‘Nehru’ surname.” He was more keen on sending out a message to poll-bound Tripura where the CPM has tied-up with the Congress to take on the ruling BJP in next week’s elections. That’s why he elaborated on the contradictions of the Congress-CPM alliance and pointed out how the first Marxist government in India was dismissed by Nehru within months after it had won a mandate in Kerala. “Elected governments were toppled 90 times! Who were those who did that? A Prime Minister used Article 356, 50 times and that name is Indira Gandhi. In Kerala, the Communist government was elected which wasn’t liked by Pandit Nehru and was toppled in 1959. In Tamil Nadu too, governments of veterans like MGR and Karunanidhi were dismissed by the Congress. Sharad Pawar’s government was toppled too. We have seen what happened with NTR when he was in the U.S. for medical treatment; attempts were made to topple his government.