PM Modi has been at the forefront of a major turnaround in India’s growth story ever since the incumbent government came at the helm of affairs in 2014. However, an important facet of his personality that has been ignored to a large extent is his excellent conduct as a Parliamentarian. PM Modi is a first time Parliamentarian and he has displayed a great deal of maturity as a Parliamentarian. He has always kept the tradition of the Parliament in mind while speaking from the said platform.
He maintained the same decorum during his last speech of the 16th Lok Sabha. PM Modi spoke like a true statesman and shared the credit for everything that was done during his tenure as the prime minister of the country. PM Modi said that 219 bills were introduced before the Lok Sabha. Of these, 203 were passed. It included certain important legislations against black money and corruption. Moreover, the House scrapped 1,400 archaic laws, tackling a “jungle” of legislation. PM Modi also pointed out that the 16th Lok Sabha will always be remembered by the present members for enacting stringent legislations on black money and corruption.
Prime Minister Modi’s speech was a highly balanced one. He also took gentle swipes at the Opposition, particularly at Congress. He stated, “I saw the plaque [at my seat in the Lok Sabha] which had only the names of three prime ministers… Experts with liberal ideologies who give sermons every day will definitely deliberate on this.” After the revelation made by the prime minister, a guessing game started on social media, and for obvious reasons all the three names were of those of Prime Ministers from the Congress party. Thus, PM Modi took a smart dig at the grand old party.
PM Modi also praised the Leader of Opposition, Malikarjun Kharge and said, “It would have been nice if he could speak today. I couldn’t hear him many times, but I used to read the details later on. It was important. His words would get me thinking and in a way, I used to get the fuel for my speeches from his words. I am grateful to Kharge.” By praising the Leader of Opposition, PM Modi has shown that he is a statesman in the true sense of the term.
PM Modi also took a sharp dig at the Congress president Rahul Gandhi. He made an obvious reference to Rahul Gandhi’s act of hugging PM Modi inside the Parliament last year and said, “I am a first-time member of Parliament and learnt several new things. I got to know the difference between gale milna and gale parna (hugging and piling on). I got to know about aankhon ki gustakhiyaan (mischief of the eyes).” In another dig at Rahul Gandhi, Modi said that there was no “earthquake” in the last five years, as had been predicted by some people.
PM Modi also heaped praise on Lok Sabha speaker, Sumitra Mahajan while pointing out the high productivity of the 16th Lok Sabha. He said that eight out of seventeen sessions of the Hose had witnessed 100% productivity. The overall productivity of the Lok Sabha stood at 85%.
The highlight of PM Modi’s speech was the stress that he laid on the need of a government with a clear majority. He pointed out that India has become the sixth-largest economy in the world and was well on its way to achieve $5 trillion in annual economic output. PM Modi also said, “There is a lot of confidence in the country now. Major organisations around the world are talking about India. India has made a place for itself in the digital world. We have now become the centre for economic activity with our initiatives such as Make in India.”
PM Modi, in his speech, also stated that a majority government had a big role to play in foreign relations. He said that neither he nor the external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj could claim credit for India’s enhanced image in the world today. PM Modi credited it to the electorate. His message in this speech was categorical and crystal clear: a government with a clear majority is the need of the hour. India is going to thrive and continue on the path of brisk progress only under decisive leadership backed by a majority government.
In the present circumstances, only the BJP is equipped to form such a government. The reality of the grand coalition is known to everyone. It is a known fact that such an alliance will be a rainbow coalition without any decisive leadership. Therefore, a BJP government with a clear majority is the only path for India’s glorious growth story to continue.
