Modi in no-holds-barred attack
NEW DELHI: Continuing his tirade against the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the BJP was only following Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ and wondered whether the grand-old party still wanted the “Old India” marked by Emergency, scams and massacre of Sikhs.
Replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address, Modi also urged the MPS to have a “constructive discussion” on holding of simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies.
He also criticised the Congress for non-passage of a bill to provide constitutional status to OBC Commission and the legislation against triple talaq.
He questioned the grand old party for the long delay in conferring Bharat Ratna to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and Constitution’s architect B R Ambedkar.
Earlier in the Lok Sabha, he said the country has been suffering due to the “wrong” policies the Congress has pursued since independence as the party has spent time singing paeans to one family instead of focussing on people’s welfare.
The PM dubbed NPAS as the UPA government’s “sin” and reeled out figures to rebuff opposition criticism on unemployment and other issues.
In the Upper House, Modi countered Opposition criticism of his government’s vision of ‘New India’ and said the Congress wanted ‘Old India’, a country envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi.
He said the Congress wanted an India of the Emergency, Bofors, Chopper scams and the Tandoor case and wondered if the party wanted an India where thousands of Sikhs were killed after a ‘big tree falls’, in an apparent reference to 1984 Sikh riots following killing of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Modi sought to corner the Congress on the Bofors issue and quoted senior Congress leader and former President of India late R Venkataraman, who in his biography has referred to his meeting with noted industrialist JRD Tata.
Taking a jibe at the opposition parties, the Prime Minister said “Why should anyone feel bad if the country improves ‘ease of doing business’ rating? It is beyond comprehension. If nothing, some even start questioning the credibility of the rating agency just because it has did not happen under their rule!”.
He said the Congress party while criticising BJP or Modi, start criticising India which adversely affects the country.
He countered the Congress claims about the NDA government “repackaging” UPA government’s schemes as NDA government’s achievements.” You also called us name changer... if you look at our work, you would call us aim chasers,” PM Modi said.
Referring to Leader of Opposition’s remarks that BJP chief Amit Shah did not take Sardar Patel’s name in his speech, he said Congress was using the picture of the first Home Minister during the Gujarat assembly elections, but it was not displayed in its programme just after the polls.
The Prime Minister highlighted achievements of his government that came into power in May 2014 and urged other parties to ask their state governments to allocate budget for bringing in behavioural changes among people, especially in relation to Swachh Bharat programme.