National News
Do not give lessons in democracy, PM Modi tells Congress in counter attack
Touching upon the Kashmir issue, the PM said Sardar Patel would have united Kashmir. "If Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would have been the first PM of the country, entire Kashmir would have been ours," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a counter attack against the Congress in Lok Sabha saying Partition was a result of Congress’ wrong policies. Replying to the Motion of Thanks on President Ram Nath Kovind’s address, Modi said, “Not a single day has passed when country has not suffered due to poison sowed by you (Congress).”
There was pandemonium in Lok Sabha as soon as the PM began his speech. Modi, however, said Opposition has the right to protest but not disrupt. Responding to the Congress’ charge of muzzling the Opposition voices, the PM said the ‘Congress should not teach us lesson on democracy’. “The Congress crushed Opposition voices. We cannot forget how the Congress insulted Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, a proud son of Andhra Pradesh. They humiliated him. Nobody in India needs lessons on democracy from the Congress Party,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad claimed that there is an atmosphere of “fear” in the country, phones of Opposition leaders were being tapped and they had all been “reduced to terrorists” by the BJP-led government at the Centre.
Slamming the ‘sycophancy culture in the Congress’, the PM said, “You were only singing paeans of one family instead of focusing on taking the country forward. How can one of the leaders say India got democracy due to Pandit Nehru and Congress Party? Is this their reading of India’s history? What arrogance is this? India did not get democracy due to Pandit Nehru, as Congress wants us to believe. Please look at our rich history. There are many examples of rich democratic traditions that date back centuries ago. Democracy is integral to this nation and is in our culture,” he said.
Touching upon the Kashmir issue, the PM said Sardar Patel would have united Kashmir. “If Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would have been the first PM of the country, entire Kashmir would have been ours,” he said.
Narendra Modi also attacked the Congress over its “dynasty politics.” “For decades, one party devoted all their energies to serving one family. The interests of the nation were looked over just for the interests of one family. In December, did we witness an ‘election’ or coronation for the post of Congress President? One youngster raised his voice about this as well,” he added referring to the reservations raised by Congress leader Shehzad Poonawalla over Rahul Gandhi’s elevation to Presidentship.
Highlighting the achievements of the NDA government, PM Modi said the NDA government is building more roads than the previous one. “We have given a strong boost to the infrastructure sector across the nation. More villages are getting optical fibre network in the last three years than they got previously. This is the transformation happening,” he said.
The PM said the Congress has never given credit to any leader other than the Gandhis. “No Congress PM has ever given credit to non-Congress governments. The approvals by the BJP Government in Karnataka made it possible to work quickly on the Bidar-Kalburgi rail line. We do not bother who is the local MP or MLA, which party they belong to. We serve the nation and care for 125 crore Indians,” he said.
Modi also accused the Opposition of dividing the country. Talking about bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Modi alleged that it was done only for “political” considerations without any preparation. “When we speak about creating new states, we remember the manner in which Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji created Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. He showed how farsighted decision making is done,” he added amidst protests by Opposition.
