The politics of parivarvaad, he added, “is a matter of concern for the democracy of the country”.
“If two people from a family progress, it is welcome, if 10 people progress, then also it is welcome. But if the family runs the party, there should be opposition to their son becoming the president,” he said. “Congress got entangled in a family. It cannot see the aspirations and achievements of crores of families in the country.”
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‘Congress failed to become good Oppn’
The PM said the Congress is the “biggest culprit for the condition of the Opposition today”.
“Congress had a huge opportunity to become a good Opposition, but, in 10 years, it failed to fulfil that responsibility,” he added.
“They did not even allow others to rise. Tejasvi Opposition leaders ko dabaa diya.. Kaafi young leaders jo Opposition mein hain, unki chhavi ban jaye toh kahi inki na dab jaye (Gifted Opposition leaders were suppressed… worried that if the young leaders in the Opposition form an image, their own may suffer).”
“As much as the country has borne the brunt of dynasticism, the Congress bore the brunt of nepotism too,” he added.
The country, he said, “is in great need of a good and healthy Opposition”. He then took a potshot at the larger Opposition, suggesting that their position was unlikely to change soon.
“I appreciate the Opposition’s resolve to remain in the Opposition for a long time… The way you sat here (in government) for many decades, the same way you resolve to sit there (in Opposition)…
In the next election, you will reach greater heights, you will sit in the viewing gallery (of Parliament).”
Modi said many among the Opposition “have lost the courage to contest the elections”.
“I heard that many people changed their seats last time, too, and are planning to change their seats this time as well. I heard a lot of people are going to go from the Lok Sabha to the Rajya Sabha. They are finding their way by assessing the situation,” he added.
“(Congress president Mallikarjun) Kharge ji shifted from this House (Lok Sabha) to that House (Rajya Sabha). (Former J&K CM) Ghulam Nabi ji shifted from the party itself. All these shifted due to family issues,” he added. “Ek hee product ko launch karne ke chakkar mein dukan ko tala lagane ki naubat aa gayi (the shop shut down on account of efforts to launch just one product),” he said.
Modi also quoted from a speech by former PM Jawaharlal Nehru to question his views about Indians. Quoting from the speech, Modi added that the former PM said “‘Indians generally do not have the habit of working very hard, we do not work as much as the people of Europe or Japan or China or Russia or America’”.
“Nehru ji’s thinking towards Indians was that Indians were lazy and less intelligent,” Modi said.
Former PM Indira Gandhi’s thinking, he added, “was no different from Nehru’s”.
Quoting her, he said, “‘Unfortunately, our habit is that when some auspicious work is about to be completed, we become complacent, when any difficulty comes, we become hopeless, sometimes it seems that the entire nation has failed. It seems like we have adopted the feeling of defeat’.”
‘Sabse bada OBC’
The PM also referred to himself as “sabse bada OBC (the biggest OBC)”, as he sought to counter the Congress’ criticism of his government’s treatment of the community. The Congress, he said, used doublespeak while dealing with leaders from the community.
“The UPA government worked to insult OBC leaders. We gave Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur. In 1970, he became the CM of Bihar, conspiracies were hatched to remove him,” he added. “In 1987, the Congress refused to accept Karpoori Thakur as the leader of the Opposition.”
He said the Congress tried to “topple Karpoori Thakur’s government”. He, who worked to uplift the backward classes, they insulted him. We have awarded him Bharat Ratna. They don’t like that. They keep asking how many OBC people are in government posts.”
Pointing to himself, he asked, “Can’t they see an OBC in front of them?”
Modi also said a “cancel culture” had developed in the Congress.
“We say ‘Make in India’, they say, ‘cancel’. We say ‘Vande Bharat’, ‘self-reliant India’, ‘new Parliament’. Congress says ‘cancel’,” he added. “This is not Modi’s achievement, this is the country’s achievement.”
Highlighting the achievements of the government, Modi said India will become the world’s third largest economic power under a third term led by him (Modi is seeking a third term in power in the upcoming election).
“The world is appreciating India’s strong economy. In G20 (summit hosted by India last year), the world has seen what the whole world thinks about India. Based on these 10 years of experience, I can say this with confidence… In our third term, India will become the third largest economic power in the world. This is Modi’s guarantee.”
He described the construction of the Ram mandir in Ayodhya as one of the major achievements of his government, adding that the grandeur of the temple would ensure a bigger win for the BJP-led NDA in this year’s general election.
“Lord Ram has returned not only home, but to such a grand temple that it is definite that ‘Abki baar 400 paar (this time 400+)’. Even Kharge ji is saying it. Not only will the NDA win 400+ seats, the BJP itself will win 370 seats”.
Weighing in on the Opposition’s allegations that the central government under Modi was misusing investigation agencies to target rivals, the PM said “there is an uproar on action against the corrupt these days”.
“Agencies are taking action on corruption. So much anger at that too. What words are being used? Ten years ago, scams and corruption were discussed in our House. Then the House demanded action,” he added. “Today, when action is being taken against the corrupt, people create ruckus in their support. During that time, the agencies were used politically and they were not allowed to do any other work.”
Earlier, he said, “if someone used to steal in class, he would not show his face to anyone for 10 days”.
“Today, corruption is proven, one goes to jail for theft, he is glorified. What kind of compulsion do you have?” he added.
Modi said “those who have looted the country will have to give it back”.
“Where the Constitution rules, where there is democracy, such things cannot continue for long,” he added. “It is the job of the agencies to investigate, the agencies remain independent. It is the job of judges to judge. They are doing their work. Jisko jitna julm karna hai, kar le, meri bhrashtachar ke khilaf ladayi jaari rahegi (my fight against corruption will continue no matter what anyone does),” he said.
This report has been updated with additional quotes from PM Modi’s speech
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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