In a scathing attack on the grand old party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Congress’ thinking has been hijacked by “urban Naxals”. The Prime Minister said that if there was no Congress, there would be no Emergency, no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred and Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened. “It was said here, ‘Congress na hoti, toh kya hota’. It’s a result of the thinking, ‘India is Indira, Indira is India.’ I think ‘Congress na hoti, toh kya hota’ because Mahatma Gandhi wanted. He knew what will happen if they continue to be and he wanted to disband them beforehand,” said PM Modi, in his reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in Rajya Sabha.
“Had Congress ceased to be, as per the wish of Mahatma Gandhi, democracy would’ve been free from a dynasty. India would’ve walked on the path of national resolutions, instead of taking to foreign view,” he said.
“Some members asked—if there was no Congress, what would happen… I would like to say, if there was no Congress there would be no Emergency, there would be no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened, if Congress would not have been there, there would’ve been no incident of daughters being thrown in ‘tandoor’,” he added.
The Prime Minister said that defeat and victory happen, but “don’t impose your frustration on people”. “Congress accused us of trying to change history. Congress’s thinking has been now been hijacked by ‘urban Naxals’,” he said. The Prime Minister said the democracy and debate are ongoing for centuries in India but Congress never thought beyond a dynasty.
“The difficulty being faced by Congress is that they never thought of anything else before the dynasty. We’ll have to accept that the biggest threat to India’s democracy is the dynastic parties. When a family is the supreme in any party, then the first casualty is that of talent,” PM Modi.
“It was said in Parliament that Congress laid the foundation of India. Some people feel India was born in 1947. This democracy is not the outcome of your efforts. You strangulated democracy in 1975,” PM Modi added. The Prime Minister also suggested changing the name of the Indian National Congress to the Federation of Congress. “When the family is supreme in the party, then the first casualty is talent,” he added.
Launching a scathing attack on former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, PM Modi said that to maintain his image at the international level, Goa had to remain under imperial rule for years. The PM said: “This year is the 60th anniversary of Goa’s Liberation. The way Sardar Patel took initiative for Hyderabad and Junagadh, if lessons were taken from it, Goa would not have had to stay in slavery for 15 more years. Goa would have been liberated much earlier. The media reports from back then will tell you that the then Prime Minister (Jawaharlal Nehru) was concerned about his international image. That is why, he, Nehru thought that if Goa’s foreign government was attacked, his image of a peace-loving global leader would have been harmed. So he let Goa suffer. When our fellow Indians, satyagrahis were being fired upon, he said that he will not send our Army,” he said. The PM said that Pandit Nehru let Satyagrahis in Goa march to their deaths in 1955. “Nehruji on 15 August 1955 had said in his address from the Red Fort this and I quote: ‘Have no doubts that we will take any secret steps for Goa. There is no force around Goa. Some people within India want to make noise and compel us to send forces there. We will not send a force, we will resolve it peacefully and everybody must understand that.’ This statement was against the people of Goa,” PM Modi said.
“I further quote him (Nehru): ‘The ones going there are welcome to do so. But it should be remembered that the ones calling themselves satyagrahis should remember the principles of satyagraha. Sending forces is not the way of satyagraha,” said PM Modi adding that this arrogance of Nehru deprived Goa of liberation for many years. The Prime Minister also slammed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and said that the singer Kishore Kumar was banned from singing on the radio during the emergency.
The PM said that India is the only country in the world, which is witnessing high economic growth and also keeping inflation in check at about 4-5 per cent, which was in double digits before 2014. “The US is facing the worst inflation in 40 years. The UK is facing the worst inflation in 30 years…During the UPA regime, inflation had touched double digits. We are the only large economy with high growth and low inflation,” the PM said.
PM Modi further slammed Opposition parties for showing the lack of trust in indigenous Covid-19 vaccines. “Some of the leaders of the Opposition parties showed immaturity in the last two years. We have seen how games were played due to political vested interests. Campaigns were launched against Indian vaccines to create doubts in the minds of the people,” said PM Modi, adding the world is appreciating the initiatives taken by India during the ongoing Covid pandemic.