Blitz Bureau
PRIME Minister Narendra Modi said his Government “lived the spirit of the Constitution” instead of waving a pocketbook to hoodwink the people, thereby making a swipe at the Opposition.
“People of India believed us because we delivered on our promises,” the Prime Minster said, responding to the debate in Parliament on the Motion of Thanks to the President Address. He enumerated his Government’s record of development and its resolve to lead India towards a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
The PM accused some Opposition leaders of speaking the “language of urban Naxals” and misleading the youth. “Those who speak this language neither understand the Constitution nor the unity of the nation,” he said.
Future of youth
Targeting the Congress, the Prime Minister said for decades, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were deprived of their Constitutional rights, calling it an “injustice” to both the people and the Constitution itself.
He also accused the Opposition parties of misleading the youth with unfulfilled promises. “We have been working continuously by keeping the future of youth in mind. But there are a few parties that are deceiving the youth. They promise allowances at the time of elections but do not fulfil those promises. These parties are ‘aapda’ on the future of youth,” he said.
Taking a dig at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi said, “Those who entertain themselves by getting photo sessions done in huts of the poor will find the talk about the poor in Parliament boring.” His remark was in reference to Rahul Gandhi’s reaction to the President’s address, where he was heard calling it “boring”.
Pain of the poor
PM Modi reminded the nation that while the Congress spoke about ‘garibi hatao’ for decades, his Government has helped 25 crore people come out of poverty.
He asserted that everyone cannot understand the pain of the poor as it required compassion, and some just didn’t have it. “The one who has lived that kind of life knows what it means to have a house with a proper roof,” he said.
PM Modi’s response to the Opposition criticism of his Government’s foreign policy, particularly against China, was revealing. He asked the Opposition MPs to read ‘JFK’s Forgotten Crisis’, US foreign policy expert Bruce Reidel’s book on political and diplomatic emergencies during John F Kennedy’s presidency. The book, he said, revealed “what games” India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had played with the country’s security.
The PM thanked the people of India for giving him the opportunity to respond to the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha 14 times, signalling confidence in his Government’s work.
