Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Congress in his reply to the motion of thanks to the President’s address in Lok Sabha and accused the opposition party of following a “divide and rule” policy to fulfil its ambition to come to power. “The Congress policy is divide and rule, Congress has become the leader of the ‘tukde tukde’ gang… divide and rule is in their DNA.”
PM Modi extensively quoted Jawaharlal Nehru to tear into the Congress. “You guys say Modi never takes the name of Nehru. Today I will fulfil your wish. Nehru said: We celebrate Independence of India, but there are some responsibilities also. Responsibility is not just of government, but of everyone and if you don’t understand it then you don’t understand the idea,” he said.
PM Modi said: “PM Nehru had said in a speech from Red Fort that even a war in Korea can impact prices in India. Imagine our first PM further said sometimes even events in the US can impact prices in India, can’t control prices at times. Imagine (what would have happened) if Congress was in power in a pandemic. Pandit Nehru had said that the Korean war caused inflation. He had said that any disturbance in America also caused inflation. He also gave up on inflation.”
“In the pandemic also, our government tried to tackle inflation. Had Congress been in power today, it would have blamed Covid for the rising inflation and moved ahead. During 2014-2020, the inflation rate was below 5%. Opposition cannot take a breath without uttering ‘Modi’. They have been disconnected from grassroots and are lost in files,” PM Modi said.
Referring to Congress leader P. Chidambaram, the Prime Minister said the former Union Minister was these days writing articles on the economy in newspapers. “In 2012, he said that the public was not troubled when they have to spend Rs 15 on a water bottle and Rs 20 on ice cream, but the public cannot tolerate a Rs 1 increase in prices of wheat and rice,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said further, “Those who have ruled the nation for so many years and are used to living in palatial houses have forgotten to speak about the welfare of the small farmer. For India’s progress, it is important to empower the small farmer. The small farmer will strengthen India’s progress. “
“You can oppose me, but why are you (Congress) opposing the Fit India Movement and other schemes? No wonder you were voted out in many states years ago… I think you have made up your mind not to come to power for the next 100 years… Even after losing so many elections there is no change in your (Congress) ahankaar (ego). Congress won several elections due to their Garibi Hatao slogan but failed to achieve it. Then the poor of this country voted them out. Some people have a problem with Make in India because, for them, it means that there will be no corruption, they won’t be able to gather money… We have made an attempt to resolve all pending issues of the defence sector,” the PM said.
“If I talk about Vocal for Local then you ignore it. Don’t you want to make India Aatmanirbhar? You (Congress) don’t want to fulfil the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi. The Congress party has crossed all limits during the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic. During the first wave, when people were following lockdowns, in the entire world guidelines were suggesting that people stay where they are, then Congress leaders were standing at Mumbai station and scaring innocent people. They pushed migrant workers in Mumbai to return to their states,” PM Modi said, adding that the Congress had crossed all limits and committed a “paap” (sin) and a “mahaapradh” (crime) by pushing “migrant labourers into difficulties”.
“Congress gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai. At the same time, the Delhi government went around slums in jeeps and announced on mikes that whoever wants to go home, buses have been arranged.to leave the city. This led to the spread of Covid in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand. What kind of politics is this? How long will this politics continue? The entire country is shocked by the behaviour of the Congress,” the PM said.
On Covid-19, the PM said that there is a new world order post the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are being recognised as a leader. India must take the global leadership role.” “The world is moving very fast towards a new world order, new systems following the Covid pandemic. India should not miss this opportunity. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is the perfect time to think about how India can play a global leadership role in the coming years. It is equally true that India has made several developmental strides in the last few years. Work has been done to strengthen the infrastructure of the country. Earlier, the gas connection was a status symbol. Now, the poorest of the poor have access to it. The poor have access to bank accounts, DBT is helping in service delivery…these are major changes,” he added.