Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called the Congress party a “parasite” looking to grow at the cost of smaller allies and accused the Grand Old Party of “spreading lies” despite its defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Modi said, “The Congress and its ecosystem is trying to impress upon people that they have defeated us. It has become a parasitic party after 2014 and eats up the votes of its allies.”
“In 16 states where the Congress fought alone, its vote share has fallen. In three states, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Congress fought on its own and managed to win only 2 out of 64 seats,” he said.
Accusing the Congress of “making lies a weapon of politics”, PM Modi said, “Even as the country chose the path of development, the Congress is bent on spreading chaos.”
“The Congress is working towards creating economic anarchy in India. The economic steps being taken by Congress-ruled states would make these states a burden on the national economy,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Opposition, the Prime Minister said he can understand their pain as despite spreading misinformation, they had to face crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.
“This is the third biggest defeat in the history of Congress. It would have been better if Congress had accepted its defeat and respected the mandate of the people but they are busy doing some ‘Sirsasana’ and Congress and its ecosystem are trying to establish in the minds of the citizens of India that they have defeated us,” he said.
“They speak against the North in the South, and against the West in the North. They have tried to divide on the basis of religion and even gave election tickets to those who had advocated division of the country. They are spreading rumours to divide people on caste lines. They are also attempting to spread economic chaos,” he added.
Modi also mocked Rahul Gandhi for his speech in Lok Sabha and said “we saw childish behaviour”.
“Yesterday, an attempt was made to mislead Parliament. Lies were spoken regarding the Agniveer scheme and MSP. When seasoned leaders like him choose this path of anarchy this shows that the nation is headed for trouble,” PM Modi said.
He also responded to the Opposition’s concerns over the issue of paper leaks, including NEET, in the country and said the government is working on a war-like scenario to take steps to book the culprits.
“The government is extremely concerned about the NEET issue and is working on a war-like situation to fulfil its responsibilities. Those involved in this will be dealt with strongly, people are being arrested continuously. We have already made a strong law in this regard,” he said.
Indirectly referring to Rahul Gandhi’s “Hindu comment” in the House on Monday, PM Modi said, “The nation will never forgive whatever happened yesterday in Lok Sabha.”
The Prime Minister also requested Speaker Om Birla to take strict action against this ‘tradition of lies’ in the House.
Modi hailed his party BJP and NDA’s win in the “biggest election in the world”.
“I understand the pain of some (Opposition) that they have been defeated despite their best efforts to spread lies. It is a matter of pride that people chose us for a third term,” he said.
“People gave us a mandate for stability, continuity; NDA scored unprecedented success in 4 state polls as well. Our third term means we will work at three times the speed and put in three times the energy. Our third term means we will give three times the results to the people of the country,” he said.
“In the last 10 years, our government has been working with the objective of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’, Modi added.
“The country has seen a model of governance of appeasement for a long time. We have moved forward with the idea of ‘santushtikaran’ (satisfaction), not appeasement,” said Modi.
While hailing his government’s actions and schemes, he highlighted that the Opposition couldn’t implement the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir, adding that Article 370 had taken away people’s rights.
“People who now dance with the Constitution did not dare to apply it there. Security forces were stoned. People said nothing could happen. After abrogation of Article 370, stone pelting is over. People are trusting the Constitution and voting in large numbers,” he said.
Modi also spoke about his government’s welfare schemes and highlighted the fight against corruption. He said “In the last 10 years, we have taken India’s economy to number 5 from number 10 globally. Now, we will take the country’s economy to number 3.”
“In the last 10 years, we have made India a big manufacturer and exporter of mobile phones. Now, we are going to do the same thing in semiconductors,” said the PM.
Demanding justice for Manipur, the Opposition stormed into the Well of the House even as the Prime Minister continued his speech. They kept shouting slongs including, “We want justice”.
