Sunday, 22 December 2024
Sunday, 22 December 2024
PM Modi defends govt record, takes on Opposition
Replying to a two-day debate on the President's address to both Houses of Parliament, Modi said people have seen the dedication with which his government had served them for 10 years.
"The people of the country have given us this mandate after testing us on every criteria. The people have seen our track record of 10 years," Prime Minister Modi said in the Lok Sabha, amid vociferous protests by Opposition members chanting slogans like “Manipur, Manipur” and “tanashahi nahi chalegi [oppression will not be tolerated]”..
Here are some excerpts from the prime minister’s speech, which have been translated from Hindi and edited for clarity.
What Modi said about the Opposition
"People have chosen us in this biggest election exercise. I can understand the pain of some people that despite running falsehoods they were comprehensively defeated.”
“They coined phrases like 'Hindu terrorism', their ally likened this religion to dengue; country will never forgive them.”
“Congress spreading anarchy by its economic policies, divisive politics around castes and regions, questioning democratic process.”
“People's mandate for Congress is to sit where it is, in Opposition; Congress could not cross 100-mark for three times in row.”
Modi also made a reference to the iconic Bollywood film Sholay’s dialogue: “Arre Mausi ji, so what if they have got zero seats in 13 states; hero toh hai na [still a hero].”
"This is the third biggest defeat for the Congress. It would have been good if the Congress would have accepted its defeat and done some introspection. But it is busy in doing 'sirsasan' [headstand]. The Congress and its system is trying to inculcate in people's minds that they have defeated us.”
On Kashmir, he said: "Those who dance with Constitution on their head did not dare to implement it in J-K, they insulted BR Ambedkar."
What PM said about the issues on which the Opposition attacked his govt
On the Agniveer scheme, he said: “Congress spreading brazen lies on defence recruitment, it weakens every effort to strengthen armed forces.”
On the NEET and other exams mess: “The government is extremely serious to stop paper leaks and taking steps on war footing to prevent repeat of such incidents, guilty won't be spared.”
On the farm protests: “Lies were spoken regarding the scheme and MSP [minimum support price for crops].”
What Modi said about Rahul Gandhi
Modi singled out Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, saying the House witnessed the wailing of a person with "balak buddhi [childish behaviour]" who tried to gain sympathy without disclosing the wrongs he had committed.”
"When seasoned leaders like him [Rahul Gandhi] choose this path of anarchy, it shows that the nation is headed for trouble."
"Speaker sir...you endure everything with a smile but something has to be done about what happened here on Monday, otherwise it will not be good for Parliament. Such attempts should not be ignored by calling them 'balak buddhi' [childish behaviour]. There is a deeper conspiracy."
