Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued to avoid any direct reference to the Adani group as he addressed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, casting himself as a lone warrior against attacks by the Opposition and tom-tomming the achievements of his government.
In the process, Modi chose to dovetail his brand of secularism with his “development-for-all” slogan, saying his government was dedicated to true secularism by delivering welfare to all.
“Our government believes in providing permanent solutions to problems and empowerment of people. Our government is for true secularism. There is no discrimination while selecting the beneficiaries of our programmes. People know they will get the benefits,” Modi said.
Like in the Lok Sabha the day before, Modi, during his 80-minute speech in the Upper House, chose to brazen it out as the Opposition demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the Adani group and shouted slogans on Adani’s perceived proximity to the ruling dispensation.
Members of the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Left Front and the DMK entered the Well of the House and began shouting slogans as Modi was called to speak.
Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge wanted to raise a point of order but was disallowed by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
As Modi began speaking during the motion of thanks to the President’s address, the Opposition chorused “Modi-Adani bhai bhai, Desh bech ke khaye malai” (Modi and Adani are brothers, they have sold the nation and enjoyed the fruits), “Adani ki ghulami bandh karo” (Stop serving Adani), “Desh ko bechna bandh karo” (Stop the sale of the nation) and “JPC pe kuch toh bolo” (Respond to our demand for a JPC probe).
Modi sought to counter the protests by saying: “Ek akela kitne ko bhari par raha hai (A solitary person is a match for so many).”
Modi said that Congress governments in the past had done tokenism in the name of welfare measures while his government was working for a permanent solution to problems. He said 11 crore people had got piped water in the past three years while 48 crore Jan Dhan accounts had been opened in the last eight years.
In the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Modi had sought to play the victim card, referring to how the Opposition abused him and claiming that the welfare work of his government was his shield.
In the Rajya Sabha, Modi said money was transferred to the accounts of beneficiaries of different government schemes through direct benefit transfer, checking the involvement of middlemen. In the past eight years, Rs 27 lakh crore has been transferred to these accounts, Modi said. He also cited the distribution of LPG cylinders to over nine crore families and the electrification of 18,000 villages in hilly and tribal areas.
Kharge had on Wednesday highlighted the government’s decision to discontinue the Maulana Azad National Fellowship and the pre-matric scholarship for minority students. The Prime Minister did not respond on this issue as well.
Referring to the criticism over the failure to create jobs, Modi said a distinction should be made between naukri (job) and rojgar (employment).
According to the Prime Minister, there are five lakh Common Service Centres across the country where people received digital services and the units also provide employment opportunities. He tried to suggest that one crore formal jobs had been created in 2022, quoting the payroll data of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation.
However, labour economists have been saying most of the new members could be those switching jobs and the beneficiaries of the formalisation of informal sector jobs, not new employment.
