Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the Congress and its MP Rahul Gandhi without naming him during his over two-hour-long address in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, saying the opposition party had misread the general election verdict and termed the Raebareli lawmaker “Baalak Buddhi” (child). This came a day after Gandhi’s fiery speech directed at Modi in Parliament. The PM also lambasted the Congress leader over his remarks, saying that the “insult of Hindus” will not be forgotten for centuries.
The opposition lawmakers interrupted the Prime Minister throughout his speech, raising slogans on the issue of the NEET controversy and Manipur violence, even as Speaker Om Birla pulled up Rahul Gandhi for directing MPs to come to the well of the House and protest while Modi was speaking. The PM appealed to Birla to take strong action against Gandhi for his speech, saying lies were spoken by him on the Agnipath scheme and MSP issue on the floor of the House. The Prime Minister also commented on the issue of paper leaks, promising strong action.
1. ‘Baalak Buddhi’ jibe
“There was a ‘kid’, who was very happily celebrating his score of ’99’… But one of his teachers wondered and asked, ‘Why are you distributing sweets, why are you celebrating?’ The teacher wanted to say that there was nothing to celebrate… The ’99’ points he secured weren’t out of 100, but out of ‘543’! But who could make a ‘Baalak Buddhi’ understand that, after all? Yesterday we saw a childish attitude in Parliament and Baalak Buddhi vilaap (child-like crying),” Modi said in the Lok Sabha.
Modi ostensibly singled out Rahul Gandhi for his conduct in Parliament. “The Baalak Buddhi is out on bail. His new drama has started to gain sympathy. But the country knows the truth that he is out on bail in a case of fraud worth thousands of crores of rupees. He has been convicted for calling people of the OBC category as thieves. He had to apologise after making an irresponsible statement on the country’s Supreme Court. There is a case against him for insulting a great personality like freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. A case is going on against him for calling the president of the country’s biggest party a murderer,” the PM said.
Modi said that “a child-like mind” neither has the sense to speak on an occasion, nor a sense of behaviour. “When this child’s intelligence takes over completely, they start attacking anyone in the house. When these children’s intelligence loses its limits, then they wink while sitting inside the House. Now the whole country has understood their truth. That is why today the country is telling them – you will not be able to do it (tumse na ho payega),” he said.
2. Strong attack on Hindu row
Modi reserved his strongest remarks for Rahul Gandhi and slammed him for his comment on Hindus and for showing pictures of Hindu deities, saying “Ishwar ka darshan hota hai, pradarshan nahin (deities are meant to be prayed to, not shown around).”
“Today there is a conspiracy to falsely accuse Hindus, a serious conspiracy is being hatched. It is being said that Hindus are violent… These are your sanskars, this is your character, these are your thoughts, these are your hatred. These are the deeds of Hindus of this country? This country is not going to forget this for centuries,” the PM said.
The Prime Minister said the Congress had tried to coin the term “Hindu terrorism”. “This country will never forgive their fellow Indians if they compare Hinduism with words like dengue, malaria, etc. As part of a well-planned conspiracy, their entire ecosystem has made it a fashion to belittle, insult, and mock Hindu traditions,” the PM said. He added that whatever happened a day ago in Parliament, millions of countrymen of this country will not forgive it for centuries to come. “131 years ago, Swami Vivekananda said in Chicago that I am proud that I come from a religion which has taught tolerance and global acceptance to the entire world,” the PM said.
3. ‘Congress misread verdict’
Modi said the Congress had misread the Lok Sabha election verdict, as the people had chosen to put the Congress in the opposition. “For the first time in history, the Congress party was not able to cross the 100-seat mark in three consecutive elections. They should have accepted their defeat and introspected. They have made a world record in failing. But the Congress and its ecosystem are trying to tell the people that they have defeated us. Bachhe ka mann behlane ka kaam chal raha hai (this is all being done to please a child),” PM Modi said.
Modi advised the Congress to not indulge in fake celebrations and rather understand the verdict. He cited statistics to show how the Congress would have fared far worse if it was without its allies. “In straight contests with the BJP, their strike rate was only 26%. But in states where they were junior partners, their strike rate was 50% In most of the 99 seats; their allies made them win. It is parjeevi (feeding on others) Congress. In 16 states where the Congress fought alone, its vote share has plunged,” the PM said.
Modi said the opposition spoke lies in the election campaign, but people chose the BJP after seeing its 10-year track record. “The people of the country have given us this mandate after testing us on every criterion,” the PM said. He said the BJP had won four states along with the Lok Sabha elections, and just six months ago, the party had won three state elections too.
4. BJP’s record vs ‘Congress corruption’
The PM also used the occasion to cite his government’s record, saying it had done “santushtikaran” and not “tushtikaran”, which means saturation of every scheme and reaching the last person. “We have been walking the path of justice to all, appeasement to none. After testing us on every criterion, 140 crore Indians have reposed their faith in us and have given us the opportunity to serve them for the third time. In 2014, the words that were heard were ‘iss desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta’ but we changed that perception. We did surgical strikes, and the people of the country know that for the nation’s security, we can do anything. We are making our troops battle-ready,” the PM said.
He said the Congress on the other hand had created a tradition of corruption since the country gained independence. “Be it the Jeep scam, the submarine scam, or the Bofors scam, all these scams have prevented the strength of the Army from increasing. There was a time when during the Congress regime, our forces did not even have bulletproof jackets. While in power, the Army was weakened and even after going to the opposition, continuous efforts were made to weaken the Army. When the Congress was in power, they did not procure fighter jets and when we tried, the Congress resorted to all kinds of conspiracies. Every possible conspiracy was hatched to ensure that the fighter jets could not reach the Air Force. Who was the Congress trying to help?” the PM asked.
5. Assurance on paper leak, warns ‘Congress ecosystem’
Modi gave a strong assurance on the paper leak issue, saying the government is taking strong steps to address the matter and a law has already been made operational. The opposition has been cornering the government over the issue of irregularities in NEET and UGC competitive examinations. “I want to assure every student and youngster that the government is extremely serious about stopping such incidents and is working on a war footing. Those who play with the future of youngsters will not be spared. In NEET issue, arrests are happening across the country,” the PM said in the Lok Sabha.
Modi concluded his speech, warning the “ecosystem of the Congress” that it will get a reply in the same coin as its activities which are harmful to the nation.
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