Exuding full confidence that he will return in 2024 with an even bigger mandate for the National Democratic Alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the people of the country have “no confidence” in the Congress. He further said the new alliance, INDIA, was full of “arrogance” where everyone wanted to be in power and the opposition was unprepared even after five years.
“In 2028, when you bring another no-confidence motion, India will be among the first three big economies of the world… this is Modi’s guarantee. Please prepare better for the next motion,” the prime minister said, mocking the opposition in his reply to the no-confidence motion.
Prime Minister Modi took potshots at the Gandhi family saying they cannot tolerate that a “gareeb ka beta” has become the PM. With Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seated opposite him in Lok Sabha, Modi said a failed product was being relaunched repeatedly without any success. He said the entire country was hurt by Gandhi’s “death of Bharat Mata” statement.
Ironically, the opposition walked out of Lok Sabha amid Modi’s blistering attack, complaining that the PM did not speak about the Manipur issue. The motion had been brought to make him speak about Manipur, as per the opposition.
But soon after the walkout took place, Modi spoke in detail about the ethnic violence in Manipur and the history of the tribal conflict for almost 30 minutes and appealed to the opposition to not politicise the situation. He said the central government was concerned over the violence but hoped for peace, while blaming the Congress for problems in the northeast over decades.
Here are five big messages by Modi in his over two-hour address:
‘Bigger win in 2024’
Modi said the NDA will win with more seats in 2024 than in 2019. “People declared no confidence for the Congress in the last election, too, after their no-confidence motion in 2018; we won with even more seats. Their no-confidence motion is a good omen for us. It seems that they have decided that in 2024, too, we will win by breaking all records and have a grand victory,” he said.
He further said the opposition had “cremated” the UPA in Bengaluru, but were celebrating it. “It is putting new plaster on a falling house, new paint on a rusted machine, trying to show a useless vehicle as an electric vehicle. This is a ‘ghamandiya gathbandhan’ (an alliance of arrogance). The person you are following has no understanding of this country’s language and traditions,” he added.
The PM also said to keep themselves alive, the opposition had to depend on the NDA as they only added two Is to it to form the word ‘INDIA’ as the name of the new opposition front.
“The first ‘I’ is the arrogance of 26 parties. The second ‘I’ is one family’s arrogance,” the PM said, pointing out to inherent contradictions in the new opposition front and said these parties had tried to break the self-confidence of the people by bringing this no-confidence motion as they cannot digest India’s progress.
“For many opposition parties, they have a hunger for power; for them, the party comes before the people and the country. They are more worried about their political future,” the PM said, adding that the opposition felt that by using the country’s name, it could restore its credibility. “But they will soon be fighting.”
Unprepared opposition
Modi also pointed out that the opposition was unprepared to take him on and alluded to their non-seriousness. “Even your darbaris (faithfuls) are unhappy. What kind of debate was done by you? The fielding was done by opposition, but fours and sixes were hit from the treasury side. Why do you not come with preparation? I gave you five years to prepare? Kya haal hai aapka,” he said.
The PM pointed out how even the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, was not given a chance by the Congress to speak in the debate and, it was only after Amit Shah’s offer, that the speaker was gracious enough to give him a chance.
“Why does the Congress keep insulting Adhir babu?” he asked, adding that the grand old party picks up misinformation about India and believes an enemy nation’s claims about surgical strikes carried out by their own country’s armed forces.
Modi further said the opposition only keeps abusing him, including using their favourite slogan ‘Modi teri kabar khudegi’. “But the opposition has a secret blessing. Whoever’s ill they wish, that person only prospers. I am the best example… I have seen it for the last 20 years,” he said, adding that PSU banks, HAL and LIC had grown despite the Congress predicting their doom.
He said the opposition should have questioned the government’s roadmap to make India the third largest economy in the world. “They could have given some suggestions. Or could have said we will take India to number 1 position. But the Congress said we will automatically become number 3 and nothing needs to be done. This shows they have no vision or policy,” he added.
The PM said in 2018, he gave the opposition one job: to bring a no-confidence motion in 2023. “They listened to me. But I am pained that in 2023, they could have done it better; there was no innovation or creativity. They could not think of issues. They have disappointed the country. Let’s see what they do in 2028. Let the people of the country believe that at least you are worthy of being an opposition,” he said.
Attack on Rahul Gandhi
Modi, without naming him, launched a strong attack on Rahul Gandhi and severely criticised his speech from the day before. “Yesterday, someone was speaking from the heart. I knew of his brain’s state, now I know of his heart too. He loves me so much that I come in his dreams too. I understand the plight of the Congress – one failed product is being relaunched again and again but this always fails and the result is that their hate for voters has also emerged,” he said.
The PM said the opposition leader speaks of ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’ but he was actually running a ‘dukaan’ of lies and loot. “This shop has sold scams, hate, appeasement, dynasty politics, emergency, partition and anti-Sikh riots,” he said.
He said Rahul’s statement on “murder of Bharat Mata” had hurt every Indian. “What has happened to the opposition, I don’t know. Without power, does this happen? What kind of language was spoken? Some people are dreaming of the death of Maa Bharti. Sometimes they speak of the murder of democracy and murder of the Constitution. I am surprised at such people – on August 14, 1947, they divided Maa Bharti into three parts (Partition). When we had to break the shackles of Maa Bharti, they cut off her hands and split her heart. They split the Vande Mataram song too. These people promote the gang that says ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’,” he added.
‘Freebie’ culture
Modi brought in the culture of ‘freebies’ being promoted by the Congress in state elections and said they want a country whose economy is weakened. “They make unrealistic promises to people in elections and development programmes are being stopped in states. They are a guarantee for India going bankrupt, they are a guarantee of a drowning economy, for double-digit inflation, for policy paralysis, instability, corruption, appeasement, dynasty politics, unemployment, terrorism and violence, and guarantee for taking India two decades back,” he said.
He further said the Congress only likes dynasty and subservience (‘parivarvaad’ and ‘darbarvaad’) and pointed out how the likes of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Charan Singh and Chandrashekhar did not get their due from the Congress.
“The portraits of many great leaders were not put in Parliament till the Congress ruled the country,” he said, adding that the party’s leaders used IAF aircraft for their personal use and were ‘namdaar’ people who behaved like “modern kings” while the BJP was full of ‘kaamdaar’ people.
Manipur situation
Ironically, the no-confidence motion was brought by the opposition to make Modi speak on the Manipur situation but they walked out before the PM started addressing the issue.
“If they had shown acknowledgement of Amit Shah’s speech, there would have been a detailed discussion on Manipur. When Shah spoke yesterday for over two hours, even the country was surprised at the lies of the Congress. He expressed concern for the government and the public over the situation,” he said.
The PM also pointed to the high court order in Manipur that led to the start of the violence and admitted that there had been serious crimes against women. He, however, promised strong punishment for the culprits and hoped that peace would soon return to the state.
“I appeal to the people of Manipur – the country is with you. We will find the solution to this challenge together,” he said.
But the PM pointed to the different events in history, including the bombing of Aizawl by the IAF under Congress rule in 1966, and said the party was responsible for problems in the northeast.
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