A combative Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Opposition in Parliament on Thursday, hailing his government for finding permanent solutions to India’s problems and attacking the Nehru-Gandhi family for destroying federalism by toppling state governments.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister said his government practised true secularism by aiming for 100% saturation of welfare benefits, blamed some states for fiscal profligacy and jeopardising the prospects of future generations, and said the country was not the property of a single family.
For the second straight day in Parliament – he spoke in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday – he leaned on his government’s welfare outreach to say that he had the backing of India’s people, and that one man was weighing heavy on the entire Opposition.
“I want to tell Opposition MPs that the more ‘keechad (mud) you hurl at me, the more the lotus will bloom. So, I want to thank everyone who directly or indirectly made the lotus bloom,” he said to loud cheers from the treasury benches, referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election symbol.
His 85-minute speech was made against the constant background of loud sloganeering from the Opposition benches. He also attacked the Nehru-Gandhi family. “If we miss out on mentioning Nehru anywhere, they (Congress) get upset. Nehru was such a great person, then why do none of them use the Nehru surname. Why do they fear using the Nehru surname?”
To be sure, Nehru’s daughter Indira was married to Feroze Gandhi and used his surname.
Referring to his 13-year-long stint as chief minister of Gujarat, Modi said he understood the importance of federalism and hence his government believed in the principles of cooperative competitive federalism. “Our policies are a perfect combination of regional aspiration and national progress,” he added.
But, he alleged, it was the Congress that had destroyed states’ rights, citing the indiscriminate use of Article 356 of the Constitution, which allows the Union government to dismiss a state government and take control of the administration.
“They (Congress) say we keep troubling states, but who misused Article 356 90 times to dislodge elected governments? One PM misused Article 356, 50 times to dismiss elected state governments and that was Indira Gandhi,” he said.
He pointed out that some of the Opposition parties that had joined the Congress in heckling him had their governments dismissed by previous Congress prime ministers. In recent years, a slew of Opposition-ruled states have accused the Union government of subverting India’s fiscal structure. On Wednesday, Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP of engineering the fall of elected governments, but was asked by the chair to authenticate it.
“The elected Left front government in Kerala was removed because Nehru didn’t like it. The governments of MGR (MG Ramachandran) and Karunanidhi were dismissed by the (then Congress) government. Even Sharad Pawar, a leader whom I respect, found his government toppled in 1980 when he was heading Maharashtra as a young leader. Every regional leader was troubled by this,” Modi added
The speech came after days of Opposition protests over allegations of fraud levelled by American firm Hindenburg at the Adani Group and Modi’s own perceived proximity to it. But Modi responded to the attacks by hitting out at the Congress’s first family.
Citing newspaper reports, the PM said 600 government schemes and projects were named after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family, and added that some people’s blood boiled if Nehru’s name was not mentioned in some programme.
He attacked dynastic politics and said that some people didn’t understand that this centuries-old country is made of the toil and sweat of ordinary people. “This is not the property of any one family,” he said, citing efforts by his government to name the Khel Ratna after legendary hockey player Dhyanchand, and islands after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and gallantry award winners.
This is not the first time that the PM has slammed dynastic politics and accused the Congress of patronising lineage and destroying merit. At the BJP’s national executive committee meeting in Hyderabad in 2022, he said parties that followed the succession model were on the verge of extinction. In 2019 in a blog post, he accused the Congress of not having any internal democracy and said if a leader dared to dream to head that party, he or she was shunted out.
The PM also had a word of caution for some states, and asked them to take stock of economic policies. He said these states should take lessons from neighbouring countries who were facing an economic crisis due to indiscriminate borrowing. “Don’t play with the economic health of the country and the futures of the next generation for momentary political gain,” he said, in an apparent reference to some Opposition-ruled states deciding to go back to the old pension scheme.
He went on to criticise Congress governments for being unable to implement policies and schemes. Making a pointed reference to Kharge’s charge that the BJP took credit for some schemes initiated during the Congress rule; the PM said, “They (Congress) used to say Garibi Hatao (eliminate poverty) but did nothing for over four decades, while we work hard to meet the expectations and aspirations of the people of the country.”
He said unlike the BJP that focuses on finding “permanent solutions”, the Congress did not fulfil its mandate of meeting aspirations. “Their priorities were different…” he said.
The BJP government focussed on achieving saturation of social welfare schemes and did not follow the Congress’ policy of appeasement and vote bank politics, he added.
“The model of development that we are following is true secularism. Real secularism is ensuring saturation of government schemes for all eligible beneficiaries so that there is no discrimination or corruption,” the PM said.
The PM recounted welfare schemes that were implemented in the last nine years and underscored how the government kept women at the forefront of its empowerment programme. “We worked hard and we are getting the support of people. Vishwas hi takat hai (people’s confidence is our power),” he said.
He also said the country could see how he was standing up to the Opposition, “Nation is watching how an individual is facing many….I am living for the country,” he said, pointing out that it was a collective responsibility to ensure India is a developed nation by 2047, the centenary of Independence.
As the opposition continued to raise slogans, the PM, without referring to their demand for a joint parliamentary probe into the allegations against the Adani Group, said the BJP will continue to thrive. “We don’t believe in appeasement or tokenism. We are ready to work hard for the country,” he added.
When the discussion on the President’s speech ended without any government reply on questions over Adani Group, the Opposition said it will continue to raise the issue.
“This is one of the biggest issues and we want an immediate inquiry. The government can survive a session of parliament but every single political party opposing the BJP was united on this issue. The body language of BJP was defensive in this session,” Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien said.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday alleged that the Prime Minister did not have “any answer at his disposal to refute every charge by Rahul Gandhi.”
