Amid sloganeering from Opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha over the controversy linked to billionaire Gautam Adani, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the President presented the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’, or developed India in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
As PM Modi tried to reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, opposition members stormed into Well of the House demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into allegations against Adani Group.
PM Modi said the more “keechad” (dirt) they will fling, the bigger “kamal” (locus) will bloom, adding that the language and behaviour of some in the House are disappointing for India.
“Keechad unke paas tha, mere pass gulaal. Jo jis ke paas tha, usne diya uchaal,” Modi quoted Manik Verma’s poem in response to the allegations opposition parties levelled on him and his government.
Roughly translated, it means they had dirt and I had ‘gulal’, whosoever had whatever they flung in the air.
The prime minister hit out at Congress for creating hurdles in development during its rule, saying India lost six decades while smaller countries progressed.
“They (Congress) had the responsibility to provide solutions when citizens were facing problems but their priority and intention were different,” PM Modi said. “We are working to find permanent solutions to the challenges citizens faced.”
Taking a swipe at the grand old party and leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, he said, “Congress might have tried to build a foundation, as claimed by Kharge ji, but they only dug holes during their tenure.”
Modi recounted the achievements of his governments – from eliminating the waiting period for getting cooking gas to opening bank accounts for everyone and providing electricity connections.
“In last 3-4 years, around 11 crore houses have got tap water connections. Talking of empowerment of common people, we started the Jan Dhan account movement. In the last 9 years, 48 crore Jan Dhan accounts were opened across the country,” he added.
During his entire speech, opposition MPs kept shouting slogans linking the prime minister to Adani and seeking a JPC probe into allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research.
The debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s Address in Rajya Sabha concluded on Wednesday.
