Country watching how one man outweighs so many: PM Narendra Modi to Opposition

Targeting the Congress a day after its president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge took swipes at him and his government, the Prime Minister said the Congress, while in power, prioritised “vote-bank politics” over development, named government schemes after the Gandhi-Nehru family and toppled elected state governments “90 times”.

Thumping his chest and pointing to the Opposition members raising slogans, he said “Naare bolne ke liye bhi unko badal karna padhta hai (even to raise slogans, they have to take turns)… I live for the country and have set out with the conviction to serve the nation.” He said the Opposition members were playing games because they did not have the courage to take him on.

“Jitna keechad uchchaloge, kamal utna hee zyada khilega (the more dirt you fling, the more the lotus shall bloom),” he said, and quoted from a poem keechad unke paas tha, mere paas gulal. Jo jiske paas tha, usne diya uchchal (they flung the dirt they had, I threw the colours I had).”

“In the last few decades, many intellectuals have given direction to the country through this exalted House. Many in the House achieved tremendous feats and accomplishments in their personal lives. Whatever is said in this House, the country listens to it and takes it very seriously. It is unfortunate then that in such an exalted institution, the behaviour and words of some people have been disappointing – not just for the House but for the entire country.”

Referring to Kharge’s remark that previous governments laid the foundation of what was being built now, Modi said that when he took office and started scrutinising projects and gathering information, he found there were “holes in the foundation”.

“When they were digging holes for the past 60 years, at that time many of the world’s smaller countries were reaching the pinnacles of progress and success,’’ he said.

During Congress rule, he said, the government had an easier task because “from panchayat to Parliament’’, everything was under its control, and citizens would vote for the party “with their eyes shut’’.

“And yet the kind of work culture they brought, they did nothing to find a permanent solution for the problems… na socha, na soojha, na hi prayas kiya (did not think, understand or make an effort)… their priorities and intentions were different… The identity of our government is based on the steps that we have taken so far and our endeavour to find permanent solutions to problems,’’ he said.

For water, instead of the “tokenism” of the Congress, a holistic integrated approach was adopted by his government to create water infrastructure, water governance, quality control, water conservation, and irrigation innovation, he said.

Similar measures, he said, have found permanent solutions for financial inclusion, DBT via Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, mobile, infrastructure planning and implementation via PM Gatishakti Masterplan.

“We understand the importance of infrastructure, scale and speed for building a modern India,” he said.

“Mahatma Gandhi used to say ‘shrey’ (merit) and ‘priya’ (dear). We have chosen the path of ‘shrey’ (merit), ”he said.

“In Azadi ka Amrit Kaal, we have chosen ‘saturation’. We have focused on how every beneficiary (of social schemes) can receive 100% benefit without disruption – this is true secularism. This is true social justice,’’ Modi said, adding that when there is discrimination and favouritism, corruption creeps in.

“The country is with us. They have repeatedly rejected the Congress,’’ he said.

Modi said that the Congress only paid lip-service to tribals, instead of actually working to uplift them. “If they had, I wouldn’t have to work so hard,’’ he said, adding that the Congress’ financial and political strategies were based “entirely on vote-bank politics”.

“Some have raised objections to the names of government programmes,even to the use of Sanskrit in some names. While I can’t verify this, I have read a newspaper report which has said that there are 600 government schemes named after the Gandhi-Nehru family. If a programme is not named after Pandit Nehru, then it raises the hackles of some people, it makes their blood boil… But what is astonishing to me is that someone of this generation is afraid to use Nehru as his surname? What is this shame of using Nehru as the surname? If such an exalted personality is not acceptable to you, is not acceptable to your family, then why are you asking us for an explanation?’’ Modi said.