Prime Minister Narendra Modi replies to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Parliament session, in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 2, 2024.
PTI
New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi took aim on the Congress as well as Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi during his Motion of Thanks address calling the party “parjeevi” (parasitic), even as an emboldened Opposition used the duration of his entire speech to shout slogans on Manipur in the Well of the House.
“Since the 1984 Lok Sabha polls, there have been 10 general elections and the Congress could never cross 250 since … The Congress’s friends should know that it is parasitic – in states where there was a direct contest with BJP, it won only 26% seats, but in seats where its allies helped, Congress won 50% of seats,” the prime minister said, calling the Congress unfortunate for losing a third time.
He added that in 13 states the Congress could not win a single seat, and among the 64 seats in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it won only 2. He also said that not only the Lok Sabha elections, the NDA won in four states that went to the polls.
Trying to run down Rahul Gandhi, by aiming at his “balak buddhi” (childlike intelligence), Modi said that Gandhi was happy by getting 99 marks in his exams. “It sounds good when a child says that he has got 99 marks, but it is only when the teacher points out that the total marks was 543, one gets to know where you stand,” Modi said.
Modi’s speech, spanning over 2 hours, met with disruptions from Opposition members who chanted “Manipur, Manipur” and “we want justice” all throughout his speech. As he rose to speak, the two MPs from Manipur – Congress Bimol Akoijam and Alfred Arthur – walked to the Well of the House with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi demanding a speech on the Manipur strife.
The prime minister also addressed the NEET paper leaks and said that the guilty will be dealt with strictest punishment. “Those who played with the future of the youth shall not be spared. There have been arrests across the country. We have already made a strict law on this. To strengthen the exam system, necessary steps are being taken,” Modi said.
The prime minister also tried to counter Rahul Gandhi’s remark on Monday where he said that “those (pointing at BJP) who claim to be Hindu are now turning violent”, and brought in Udayanidhi Stalin’s comments on Hinduism to say that people will not forgive the Opposition.
“People of this country will never forgive what happened yesterday … it was said here that Hindus are violent. Are these your values? Is this your character? These are people who tried to coin the phrase Hindu terror. Their allies compare Hinduism with dengue, malaria, etc and they clap. Their entire ecosystem wants to abuse and insult Hinduism. Hindus will now have to think – is this insult a coincidence or part of a design,” Modi alleged.
The prime minister also said that the Opposition was ready to question the electoral process and that it intended to create friction among communities. “They had sent a call out for protests and disruptions on June 4 if the results were to not go their way … In the South, they speak against the North, and in the North they speak against the West. They have tried to divide based on religion and even gave election tickets to those who had advocated division of the country,” Modi said.
Modi said that his government’s mantra is to work “24/7 for 2047” when he hopes to make India a developed country. “In the third term, we will work with three times more strength and speed, and bring three times more results. The mandate for the Congress is to sit in the Opposition,” Modi said.
During his speech, Modi took a minute to express his condolences about the Hartras stampede tragedy; Opposition MPs, too, stopped their protests during this time.
“I have just been given sad news .. It has come to my attention that there have been many tragic deaths in the stampede in Hathras … I express my condolences to those who lost their lives (and) hope for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he said.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die after Modi’s speech.