PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, saying the Opposition party is unable to digest its successive electoral defeats and will never be able to dig his grave despite nursing deep hatred towards him. Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, Modi regretted the disruption caused by the Opposition party in the Lok Sabha and said it was not just an insult to a poor tribal woman President of India but also the top Constitutional position she occupied, and the Constitution of India. He also deplored Rahul Gandhi’s “traitor” comment on Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, and termed it an insult to the entire Sikh community.

 

Modi accused the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC party of protecting “ghuspaithiyas” (infiltrators) in West Bengal, who were taking away jobs and rights of youth and land of tribals. Taking on the Congress, the Prime Minister said those who talk of ‘Mohabbat ki dukaan’ are raising slogans like ‘Modi teri kabr khudegi’, which highlights their frustration of electoral defeats. “They will never be able to dig my grave,” Modi said. He also said they abuse him daily because they are unable to digest how a poor man like him has occupied the post and is surviving. He said the Congress’s first family feels that the Prime Minister’s post is their family fiefdom. Modi said the Opposition will never succeed in digging his grave as he enjoys the blessings of crores of mothers and sisters and the poor of the country, for whom he is working selflessly.

 

The Prime Minister said Congress treated Indian citizens as “problems while we treat them as our strength and solution to challenges”. The Prime Minister listed out the achievements of his Government in the last 11 years, while asserting that high growth and low inflation reflect the strength in the country’s economy, which was set to emerge as the third largest in the world. Modi also spoke about the recent trade deals with the European Union and the US and said the world is feeling more confident about stability after these developments. He said India is now on ‘Reform Express’ and will achieve the goal of a developed nation by 2047. In his nearly 100-minute speech, Modi countered the Opposition parties’ criticism about his Government’s track record of implementing schemes and talking about ‘Viksit Bharat’.

 

He also said that India has now become a strong voice of the global south. Describing the recent trade pact with the EU as a ‘Mother of all Deals’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday recalled the Bofors gun kickback scandal in the Rajya Sabha as an example of previous corrupt Governments and Congress leaders who prioritised “filling their own pockets” over public welfare. Modi said the previous Governments and leaders did not give priority to improvement in the lives of people as they were interested in filling their own pockets. Recalling the Bofors kickbacks scandal of the Congress era, PM Modi said, “Just analyse the PM Speeches from Red Fort of the Congress era, and you will agree that they lacked any idea, vision or intent for trade pacts.” Modi drew a sharp contrast between his Government’s people-centric approach and the Congress party’s mindset during his reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

 

Quoting former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi on her visit to Iran, PM Modi recalled her statement that former Prime Minister late Jawaharlal Nehru viewed the country as having 35 crore problems, while she herself faced 71 crore problems during her tenure. The Prime Minister asked how any leader could refer to the people of India as problems, asserting that with 140 crore citizens today, the nation possesses 140 crore solutions. This fundamental difference in perspective, he said, sets his administration apart from the Congress, emphasising empowerment and opportunity over viewing population as a burden. PM Modi strongly defended the dignity of constitutional offices, saying that the Opposition had no moral right to lecture on the Constitution after what he described as their insulting behaviour toward a tribal woman holding the highest constitutional post in the land, an apparent reference to President Droupadi Murmu.

 

He accused the Opposition of hypocrisy in raising constitutional concerns while undermining respect for institutions. Reiterating the NDA Government’s resolve to ‘reform, perform and transform’, PM Modi said that a slew of reforms were initiated after 2014, and this resulted in flourishing growth in various sectors from banking to PSUs and brought transformational change in the lives of farmers. Shifting his focus to Sadanand Master’s (RS MP from Kerala) first speech in the House, PM Modi heaped praise on his composure and disposition despite facing a savage attack on himself decades ago, resulting in the loss of both limbs.