New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a fresh attack on the Gandhis on Thursday as he asked the family why it did not use the “Nehru” name, a remark that came during his Rajya Sabha speech that trained its attack on the Opposition amid a political slugfest over the Adani stocks rout.
The Prime Minister spoke for about 90 minutes in his reply to a debate on a motion thanking President Droupadi Murmu for her address to a joint sitting of Parliament.
Countering the Opposition’s charge, he said their “keechad” (allegations) will only help the Bharatiya Janata Party’s lotus bloom. Modi said he alone outweighed all those who took turns to shout slogans against him.
The remarks came a day after the Prime Minister said in the Lok Sabha that some leaders stopped India from achieving its potential. He challenged the Opposition to convince beneficiaries of the government’s welfare programmes with their “baseless charges”.
“The country is watching how one person has outweighed so many,” the PM said amid “Modi-Adani, bhai-bhai” slogans in the Upper House.
“If we miss out on mentioning Nehru anywhere, they (Congress) get upset. Nehru was such a great person; then why does none of them use the Nehru surname? What is the shame in using the Nehru name?” Modi said in an oblique reference to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government circumvented several rules to benefit Gautam Adani and his business empire, which has taken a hit after the publication of a critical report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research.
Several other opposition parties also made similar allegations and demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the matter. “I am not satisfied with the PM’s speech… His speech had nothing about an inquiry,” Gandhi said outside Parliament on Wednesday after Modi’s speech in the Lok Sabha.
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‘This country is not the property of a family’
On Thursday, Modi continued his attack on his political rivals. “The country has rejected the Congress party from time to time. In 60 years, the Congress destroyed the nation,” he said. The Prime Minister also touted the welfare schemes of his government ahead of key state polls and next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
As he stood up to speak, Opposition MPs with placards walked to the Well of the House, shouting slogans against the Prime Minister and reiterating their demand of a JPC probe in the Adani issue.
“Jitna keechad uchhaloge, kamal utna hi khilega (The more you sling mud, the more the lotus will blossom),” Modi said in response to the protests.
“The country is watching that one person (leader) is proving too much for so many (ek akela kitno ko bhari pad raha hai). Even to chant slogans, they have to switch turns. I have been responding to their voices for over an hour in one voice,” Modi said amid sloganeering.
Attacking Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, he said: “Kharge said that in 60 years, they were laying a strong foundation. In 2014, when I saw things closely, I found that the Congress’s family wasted six decades. Even smaller nations were touching the pinnacle of success during that period.”
“They developed a culture where no problem was permanently resolved… There was a time when even one hand-pump in a village was celebrated for a week. From Independence till the time we came to power, only 3 crore homes got tap water supply. In the last 3-4 years, 11 crore houses got ‘nal se jal’,” Modi said.
“This country is not the property of a family. We renamed the Khel Ratna award in the name of Major Dhyan Chand,” he added.
Alleging that the Prime Minister was attempting to “mislead the nation” over the Adani issue, Kharge on Thursday asked why public financial institutions were providing huge loans to the industrialist when other citizens struggled to secure even small loans from banks.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on Thursday as slogans by MPs from the Opposition and treasury benches continued during the discussion on the Union Budget.
The Upper House was earlier adjourned repeatedly when it took up the discussion on the Budget after the Prime Minister’s speech on the motion of thanks on the President’s address.
In his speech, PM Modi also targeted the Congress by saying that its leader Indira Gandhi had scored a “half-century” in dismissing elected governments.
He said the BJP-led Union government has stressed on “cooperative, competitive federalism” while also framing policies keeping in mind the nation’s interests.
(Edited by Nisheeth Upadhyay)
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