PM Narendra Modi does some hardtalk as he softens on Land Bill

“Humein itna ahankar nahin hona chahiye ki humne jo kiya us se achha ho nahin sakta (We should not be so arrogant as to think we did cannot be bettered),” Modi said in his 70-minute address, replying to the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha.

“We respect what you did. Now it is time to correct whatever shortcoming are there. Please do not make it a prestige issue,” appealed Modi, even as he reminded the Congress minutes earlier that the BJP had supported it on the Land Acquisition Act despite knowing that the Congress would attempt to take political mileage out of it.

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Displaying glimpses of the combative style he had in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Modi took a potshot at the Congress’s flagship MNREGA scheme, saying, “My political sense tells me never to scrap MNREGA. Because MNREGA is a living memorial to your failures. Aur main gaaje-baaje ke saath iska dhol peet-ta rahoonga. MNREGA rahega, aan-baan-shaan se rahega aur gaaje-baaje ke saath duniya mein bataya jayega.” As stunned Congress members watched, Modi mocked the party, saying that under this scheme, it had to send people to dig pits 60 years after independence.

He piled on the sarcasm by adding that his government would add whatever is necessary to the scheme and would not subtract anything from it. “Don’t worry…whatever has to be added, will be added. Whatever strength has to be given…we’ll give it. Because we want the people to know who has left these ruins… who forced you to dig these pits even after so many years,” he remarked, telling the Congress that it had “left its footprints” for the people to know and understand.

Modi’s government has been under fire from the opposition and rights groups who have have been alleging that the land bill in its present form would hurt farmers’ interests. While a section in the government was reluctant to make any changes to the Act saying that tougher clauses would be a hurdle for the industries and would hamper the investment atmosphere, his party did not want the government to have a pro-corporate and anti-farmer image.

The Prime Minister also sought to clear his government’s stance on charges that it was maintaining silence over controversial communal remarks made by its associates. “My government’s only religion is ‘India first’. My government’s only religious book is the ‘Indian Constitution’. Our devotion is ‘Bharat Bhakti’, my government’s only worship is welfare of 125 crore Indians and my government has only one style of working — ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’,” he said.

“I have a lot to say to those who keep talking nonsense in the name of community… but I don’t want to waste time,” Modi said. He added that the country cannot run outside the framework of the Constitution. “Nobody has the right to take law in his hands. Nobody has any right to discriminate against anybody on the basis of community. And everyone has a right to move ahead with others… I am in the government… it is my responsibility to see how the government runs,” he said.

On the issue of black money, Modi said that one of the achievements of his government was that it forced a debate on this issue across the country. Warning that “no one would be spared”, he said his government’s resolve on the black money issue should not be seen as “vindictive” but just keeping a promise it had made to the people.

On corruption, he said, “A corruption-free system can be put in place. I want that this issue should not remain confined to political debate, otherwise we will remain engaged in ‘tu tu mai mai’ and ‘kiski shirt zyada safed hai’. If we keep trading charges only, those indulging in making money will continue to do so.”

The Lok Sabha adopted the motion of thanks to the President’s address, rejecting Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy’s amendment in a division with 61 members voting for the amendment, 203 against and four abstaining. Roy had moved an amendment seeking inclusion of a reference to the secular nature of the country and regretted the absence of issues like “ghar wapsi” programme of the VHP. All other opposition amendments were rejected by voice vote.