Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday targeted the Opposition, especially the Congress, for opposing the decisions taken by his government, saying that some Opposition parties were putting obstacles in the work of his government because when they were in power, they could not implement their decisions. Addressing the 10th death anniversary of late Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Harmohan Singh Yadav virtually, the PM said the interests of the country and society are always bigger than ideologies. “In recent times, there has been a trend to put ideological or political interests above the interest of the society and the country. Many times, Opposition parties put obstacles in the work of the government because when they were in power, they could not implement the decisions taken by themselves,” Modi said, adding that people do not like such behaviour. “It is the responsibility of every political party that opposing a party or an individual should not turn into opposition to the country. Ideologies and political ambition have their place, and they should have. But, country, society and nation come first,” the PM said as he cited the 1971 war, the nuclear test and the fight against Emergency. Recalling the words of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi said: “Vyakti se bada dal, dal de bada desh kyuki dalon ka astitva loktantra ki vajah se hai aur loktantra ka astititva desh ki vajah se (Parties exist because of democracy and democracy exists because of the country). Most of the parties in our country, especially all the non-Congress parties have also followed this idea and the ideal of cooperation and coordination for the country,” PM said as he targeted the Congress. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister paid tributes to Harmohan Singh Yadav, a towering figure and leader of the Yadav community. Yadav, who was a Shaurya Chakra awardee, later joined politics and served as a Member of Parliament, Legislative Council as well as Assembly. Modi also invoked Dr Ram Manohar Lohia’s concept of cultural strength and said that in the original Indian thought, society was not an issue of contention or debate and was seen as a framework of cohesion and collectivity. He said that Dr Lohia worked to strengthen the cultural strength of the country by organising Ramayana fairs and caring for the Ganga river. With Droupadi Murmu taking oath as the country's President on Monday, the PM said that for the first time after Independence, a woman from the tribal community has assumed the highest office of the country and called it a “big day for India’s democracy”. “For serving the society, it is necessary that we accept the spirit of social justice, and adopt it. Today, when the country is celebrating 75 years of Independence, it is very important to understand this and move in this direction,” he added. Senior BJP leaders, including UP Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana and former deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, attended the death anniversary event of Yadav in Kanpur.
