Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Rajya Sabha. (RSTV screengrab)
Parliament Highlights: In his reply to Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said the fundamentals of the Indian economy are “still strong” and have the inherent quality to move ahead.
“We talk about a five trillion dollar economy. Yes, the aim is ambitious but we have to think big and think ahead,” he said. The remarks by the prime minister came amidst the Opposition’s criticism on the declining economic growth.
Earlier today, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Modi took a dig at the opposition saying had his government walked on the path of Congress, it would not have been able to deliver on issues such as Article 370, Citizenship Amendment Act, and triple talaq.
Read | PM Modi on CAA: Nehru was in favour of protecting Pak minorities, did he want a Hindu Rashtra?
The PM also launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing it of fuelling communal divide in the country by misleading Muslims on CAA. PM Modi said the grand old party has always considered Indian Muslims as Muslims alone but the NDA government considers them as Indians. He said the Congress, which cries foul over saving the Constitution, conveniently forgets how they trampled upon it during the Emergency.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at Parliament House on Wednesday. (PTI)
Both houses have been adjourned till 11 AM tomorrow.
"I would like to assure the prime minister that no one in the opposition is against the policy of bringing back our Hindu brothers from our neighbouring countries," Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said in the Rajya Sabha, adding that the Opposition is against the non-inclusions of Hindus from Sri Lanka.
Questioning the exclusion of Bhutan and Nepal from the new citizenship law, Azad lashed out at the Centre for framing laws on the basis of religion.
"NPR and census are normal government procedures, which have been carried out earlier also. But when vote bank politics is a necessity than those who carried out NPR earlier, spread misinformation about it now," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the Upper House.
In his reply to Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that instead of scaring people on new citizenship law, the right information needs to be provided to the citizens. He also said that no one is going to get political benefit out of protests against citizenship law.
"Many Opposition members are very enthused these days, those who were silent have become violent," Prime Minister Modi said in the Rajya Sabha.
"Is it okay to misguide and misinform the nation? Can anybody be a part of a campaign that does the same? The path being taken on CAA by many Opposition parties is unfortunate," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the Rajya Sabha.
"We have a mission to ensure clean water reaches all houses," Prime Minister Modi said in the Rajya Sabha.
In his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in the Rajya Sabha, PM Modi said the fundamentals of the Indian economy are "still strong" and have the inherent quality to move ahead.
"We talk about a five trillion dollar economy. Yes, the aim is ambitious but we have to think big and think ahead," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajya Sabha said that the plight of the Bru refugees was pitiable. "Yet, the Party which ruled most parts of the Northeast for decades and the Party that ruled Tripura for decades did nothing about this problem. It was our Government that had the honour of solving this major problem," he said.
Taking on the charge of unrest in the Northeast region, Prime Minister said that the region is actually witnessing "unprecedented peace".
"For the first time in decades, people of Jammu and Kashmir got benefits of reservation. There were BDC polls, RERA came into being there. For the first time, Jammu and Kashmir got a comprehensive start-up, trade and logistics policy," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Rajya Sabha.
Anti-corruption bureau was set up there, he added.
Targeting Opposition leaders, Prime Minister Modi said: "I want to remind the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha about the manner in which proceedings regarding the creation of Telangana took place."
The entire nation saw detailed discussions being held on J&K here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his reply on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Rajya Sabha.
PM Modi in Rajya Sabha: To be honest, I was a little disappointed with some of the remarks made here. Some members have made stagnation a virtue. They were stuck in the same old ways, talking about the same old things of the past.
PM Modi in Rajya Sabha: To be honest, I was a little disappointed with some of the remarks made here. Some members have made stagnation a virtue. They were stuck in the same old ways, talking about the same old things of the past pic.twitter.com/l510cDeKEd
— ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2020
PM Modi replies in Rajya Sabha to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar Thursday in the Upper House asked whether people who support JNU student Sharjeel Imam also support his comments on Assam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address at around 5 pm in the Rajya Sabha, today.
Taking on the Opposition over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) amid the ongoing protests across cities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday accused the Congress and the Left of inciting people at protest sites and stressed that the Act will not impact any Indian citizen, including Muslims.
Reiterating that the Act is not against the interests of minorities in the country, PM Modi, in his reply to a debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in Lok Sabha, said: “For them (opposition), they are Muslims. For us, they are all Indians. The Act does not affect any Indian.” Click here to read more.
"It was a mix of fairy tale and mediocrity. There are no numbers in the budget or in his speech, there is only qualitative grandstanding," Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said. (ANI)
Delhi: Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal is holding a meeting in Parliament with Rajasthan MPs regarding their issues and demands over rail networks in their constituencies. Lok Sabha Speaker and MP from Kota, Om Birla is also present in the meeting.
Rahul Gandhi on PM Modi's speech in Lok Sabha: The biggest issue today is unemployment and jobs. We asked the PM many times on this issue, but he did not utter a word. Earlier, the finance minister gave a long speech but she also did not say a word on it.
After PM Modi completes his address, the Lok Sabha passes Motion of Thanks to the President's address.
PM Modi in Lok Sabha: An year before Nehru Liaquat Pact, he had written to then Assam CM, "You will have to differentiate between Hindu asylum seekers and Muslim immigrants."
"An year after the signing of the pact, Nehru ji himself said on this floor of this House that "there is no doubt that those people who have come here to seek asylum deserve to be citizens of India. And there should be a provision in the law in for it"."
"Now I want to ask Congress - was Pandit Nehru communal? Did he wish to make this nation a Hindu Rashtra?"
PM Modi on Nehru-Liaquat Pact: Why did a secular like Nehru did not use word like 'all population' instead of 'minority' in the pact?
PM Modi in Lok Sabha: Congress has always considered Indian Muslims as Muslims alone. We, on the other hand, consider them as Indians.
PM Modi on Kashmir: "Omar Abdullah said removing Article 370 would bring such earthquake that will separate Kashmir from India. Farooq Abdullah said if Article 370 is removed, there will be no one in the Valley to unfurl Indian flag."
"Can any person devoted to the Indian Constitution ever accept this? Those who say such words, they do not trust the people of Kashmir. We trusted them, and now the region is developing at a fast pace."
PM Modi in Kashmir: Kashmir is India's jewel in the crown.
PM Modi in Lok Sabha: There has been talk of 'save constitution'. I agree, Congress should say this 100 times in a day. Maybe they will realize their past mistakes. Did you forget this slogan during emergency? When state Govts were dismissed? When cabinet resolutions were torn?
In an indirect reference to Shaheen Bagh protests, PM Modi in Lok Sabha said agitating is the right of people but it should not trouble people and perpetrate violence.
After Congress' Rahul Gandhi intervenes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech, he says: "I was speaking for the last 30-40 minutes but it took this long for the current to reach there. Many tubelights are like this."
PM Modi in Lok Sabha: Yesterday a Congress leader said that youth will hit me with sticks in 6 months. I have decided that I will increase my frequency of 'Surya Namaskar' so that my back becomes strong enough to take the beating of so many sticks.
PM Modi in Lok Sabha: Fiscal deficit has been kept in check. Price rise is also under check and there is macro-economic stability. We have taken several steps to boost investor confidence and the country's economy.
PM Modi in Lok Sabha: "Agriculture budget, which was earlier Rs 27,000 crore, has now been increased by five times to about Rs 1.5 lakh crore."
"But some states, driven by politics, are not allowing farmers to benefit from PM-Kisan Scheme. I appeal to them, please let there be no politics in farmer welfare. We all have to work together for the prosperity of farmers of India."
PM Modi in Lok Sabha: President of India has talked about agriculture and farmer welfare in detail. The issue of higher MSP was pending for decades. We had solved this long-standing demand. The same applies to crop insurance and irrigation related schemes.
PM Modi: "India can no longer wait for problems to remain unsolved. And, rightfully so. That is why our target is: speed and scale, determination and decisiveness, sensitivity and solution."
Opposition raises 'Mahatma Gandhi amar rahe' slogans on PM Modi's arrival in Lok Sabha. Congress Leader of Opposition Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says "Yeh to abhi trailer hai". PM Modi replies, "Aapke liye Mahatma Gandhi trailer ho sakte hain, humare liye Gandhi ji zindagi hain".
PM Modi in Lok Sabha: "If we had walked on your footsteps, we would have never been able to deliver on Article 370, Triple Talaq issue, Ayodhya dispute, Kartarpur Corridor, India Bangladesh border dispute."
PM Modi delivers his reply on Motion of Thanks to President’s address in Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi enters Lok Sabha hall to a rousing welcome by the MPs.
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena in Rajya Sabha: "National telecom companies BSNL and MTNL are going through a rough phase. A separate company was made for the tower sharing of BSNL and MTNL. What is the status of that company?
"Dues pending on Reliance Jio for using BSNL's and MTNL's infrastructure is at least Rs 200 crore. There are other companies as well which owe these two companies. Why the government has not recorvered the amount yet."
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad replues: "Govt will revive these companies. They are our strategic companies.
About the payemnt part, telecom companies do asset sharing and the government is taking care of it.
The following two adjournment motions have been filed on behalf of Congress today.
# Regarding 'Unwarranted ban on travelling in private airlines without the complaint of the Pilot and bypassing DGCA by the minister' on behalf of Manikam Tagore and S U Thirunavukkarsasar.
# Regarding 'Denial of additional financial assistance to Kerala' on behalf of Kokidunnil Suresh.
Manish Tiwari: What Ministry of Sports affairs doing to stop the cases sexual harassment of players in Sports Authority of India?
Kiren Rijiju: It is a serious matter of concern. We have brought up the matter with Women and Child Development ministry as well. We have a very strict athlete centric policy.
Welcome to the Indian Express Parliament LIVE blog. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha today. Both the Houses of the Parliament will further discuss the Motion and the Union Budget 2020.