PM Modi on Rahul: Balak buddhi, insults Hinduism; LoP’s remarks expunged

Alleging that the Congress was trying to spread chaos in defeat and was deliberately abusing Hindus, the Prime Minister urged the Speaker to take strict action to “defend the dignity of the House” against what happened Monday which was “a slap on the wisdom of our people and our great national traditions”.

This was a reference to Rahul Gandhi’s speech in which he referred to Hinduism while attacking the BJP – remarks that were later expunged from the records (see accompanying report) – and prompted Modi to intervene, saying “This is a very serious issue. Calling the entire Hindu society violent is a serious issue.”

Targeting the Congress leader, Modi used the word balak buddhi (immature mind) multiple times in his speech, and said: “People of the country will never forgive what happened yesterday. Swami Vivekanand had said in Chicago 131 years ago that I am proud of belonging to the religion that has taught tolerance to the world. Hindus are tolerant as a community. That is why we have a democracy and such diversity. It is a serious matter that there is a conspiracy to falsely accuse Hindus. It was said that Hindus are violent. Are these your values? Is this your character? Is this your hatred for Hindus of the country? The country will not forget this for centuries.”

“These are people who tried to coin the phrase Hindu terror. Their allies compare Hinduism with dengue, malaria, etc, and these people clap. Their entire ecosystem wants to look down upon, abuse and insult Hinduism. Making fun of Hindus has been made a fashion for political greed,” he said.

“We are committed to the Constitutional principle of Sarva Panth Sama Bhava. The country has seen the politics of appeasement for a long time. For the first time, the country has seen true secularism, which is santushtikaran, meaning the saturation of every policy to reach the last person. Saturation is the real social justice and real secularism,” he said.

“The country has chosen the path of development. But the Congress is bent upon spreading chaos. They speak against the North in the South, and against the West in the North. They have tried to divide on the basis of religion. They are building new narratives and spreading rumours to divide people on caste lines,” he said.

“They are also attempting to spread economic chaos. The way they are taking economic decisions in their states is taking the country towards a financial crisis. They said from the stage that if the results were not to their liking, the country would be on fire. Their aim is to spread chaos,” he said.

Maintaining that the election victory was historic – that it was the first time in 60 years that a government had been sworn in for a third consecutive time – Modi said, “After Independence, this has happened the second time, and after 60 years. There were four state elections along with the Lok Sabha polls. The NDA got unprecedented success in all four states.” He specifically mentioned Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, and said that six months ago, the BJP had won Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh.

“The BJP has opened its account in Kerala for the first time. It has done well in some seats in Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka, UP and Rajasthan, the vote percentage of the BJP has increased. There are polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand soon. We got more votes in these three in these Lok Sabha elections than we got there in Assembly polls. The blessings of the people are with us.”

Attacking the Congress, he said, “The Congress also got a mandate in 2024 – that you sit in the Opposition alone and keep shouting when you lose all logic. This is the first time that the Congress has not been able to cross 100 seats three times in a row. It would have been better if they had accepted their defeat and done introspection. But the Congress and its ecosystem are trying to prove that they have defeated us… When a small child falls from a cycle and begins to cry, elders say – see, an ant died, a bird flew, you ride so well. They distract the child to make him feel good. This is what is happening these days: the Congress and its ecosystem are doing this these days.”

“I remember a story. With 99 marks, a child was walking around arrogantly. He would show off … People would praise him. The teacher came and asked what the celebration was about. He got 99, not out of 100, but out of 543. Who can convince balak buddhi (immature mind) that you have made a world record of failing,” he said.

“We saw this childish activity in the House yesterday. There was a vilap (wailing) by balak buddhi here yesterday. Speaker sir, this is a new drama to gain sympathy, but we know that he is out on bail in a case on corruption of thousands of crores; he has been convicted of calling OBCs thieves; he has had to apologise in the Supreme Court for irresponsible statements, and he has been sued for insulting great freedom fighter Savarkar. Balak buddhi knows neither how to speak nor how to behave. When balak buddhi loses control, he forcibly embraces someone or winks. The country is telling him – tumse na ho payega (you won’t be able to do it).”

Modi took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi for displaying images of gods in Lok Sabha and said, “From childhood, we have learnt that every form of Ishwar is for darshan. No form is for pradarshan (display) for greed. The insult of our gods and goddesses is hurting crores of people… After the scenes yesterday, Hindus have to think: Is this insult a coincidence or part of a design?”

Claiming that the armed forces were weak in the times of Jawaharlal Nehru, Modi said the Congress was against reforms in the defence sector, while the government was being abused for making the forces fighting-fit in changing times.

“They are now spreading lies about recruitment, so that the youth of my country do not join the Army. I want to know – for whom and for whose benefit does the Congress want to weaken our Army?” he said.

“On Agniveer, lies were told to the House. The same was said about MSPs. It is the misfortune of the House that its dignity is being hurt. A party that has sat here for 60 years and knows the work of government – when it chooses the path of chaos, we get proof that the country is moving in a dangerous direction,” he said.