Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the opposition today in the budget session of the Parliament. He especially demolished the Congress party in his speech by speaking over a range of issues. The address came on the occasion of the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha. It was delivered in the midst of protests, heckling and interference with accusations of theatrics by the opposition.
Prime Minister took on Renuka Chowdhary for laughing maniacally in the Lok Sabha by saying “Ramayan Serial ke baad aisi Hansi sunne ko aaj mili hai” (Got to hear such a laughter after the Ramayan Tele-Series)
In his ninety minute monologue, the PM basically focused on exposing the Congress and it’s past. He in a nutshell accused the Congress of dividing the nation since 1947, forgetting the ideals of 12th century Kannada reformer Basava and also alleged back stabbing Andhra politicians.
He was also critical about the process of so called internal democracy in the Congress party, questioned the motives of the opposition and relayed accomplishments of his govt.
PM Modi’s Lok Sabha Speech: Democracy was in our blood
PM Modi began his Lok Sabha Speech by accusing the Nehru Gandhi dynasty of dividing the country post independence. He was thunderously categorical in emphasizing that the seeds of division sown by the Congress then were so grave that it’s ramifications can still be felt even today. He said that the grand old party has been using this ploy in every election and 125 crore Indians are paying the price for the same. PM Modi slammed former first PM Nehru and rejected the Congress party’s theory that he was responsible for bringing democracy into the country. He asserted that democracy was in our blood and cited example of 12th century Kannada reformer Basava’s teachings which he believed exhibited ancient democratic principles including women empowerment.
PM Modi’s Lok Sabha Speech: TDP was born out of insults meted out by the Congress party
The second critical aspect of his Lok Sabha speech was TDP and the insult meted out by Congress leaders to them in the past. In this perspective, PM Modi perhaps tried to keep a balance between reiterating Govt’s importance to TDP as an ally and in the same breath lambasted the Congress by retaining the theme of democracy not being a Congress discovery. TDP is an important partner in the NDA and has been quite miffed with the BJP recently owing to the union budget. Their reference may have been a subtle masterstroke of reaching out to them after recently patching up.
Full Speech of PM Modi in the Lok Sabha
PM Modi stressed that TDP was born out of insults meted out by the Congress party and cited examples in reference for the same.
Thirdly, he came back to prod on the lack of internal democracy in the Congress and highlighted the controversy surrounding the election of Nehru as the first PM. The PM claimed that it was Sardar Patel who was democratically chosen but was sidelined after bringing Nehru in to the picture. He also added that the Kashmir problem would not have existed if Sardar Patel would have been the PM. PM Modi said the same to make a reference to Rahul Gandhi’s promotion as the Congress President which he touted it as a coronation rather than an election.
PM Modi’s Lok Sabha Speech: Bidar-Kalburgi rail line in Karnataka got a boost only when Yeddyruppa led BJP came to power in Karnataka
Fourthly, PM Modi spoke about achievements of his govt and insisted a fundamental change on the ground and in the work culture of the country. Better implementation of projects, building of more roads and giving strong boost to infrastructure were discussed.To stress his point he spoke about the Bidar-Kalburgi rail line in Karnataka which remained standstill during Congress years even after it was approved by the Vajpayee govt. The project got a boost only when Yeddyruppa led BJP came to power in Karnataka. He also gave the example of the Barmer refinery to demonstrate what he believed was the Congress party’s colossal failure. The Barmer refinery will be the country’s first Greenfield Bharat Stage VI refinery and petrochemical project. He cited the functioning of the refinery as an achievement by readressing all its pending issues.
Perhaps some parts of PM Modi’s Lok Sabha speech may have been influenced by the upcoming polls of Karnataka and Rajasthan. Nevertheless, the opposition who were protesting and creating obstacles in the functioning of the parliament couldn’t upstage the phenomenal impact of his Lok Sabha speech. In the end, the Prime Minister was able to captivate the house with his perfectly balanced oratory. It was a mix of best of both the worlds. PM Modi was firm in his pointed criticism of the opposition and also was confident in his attempts to project achievements of his govt.