PM Narendra Modi slammed the Congress in the Rajya Sabha.
Highlights
- In Rajya Sabha, PM Modi rebuts Congress' criticism of government policies
- PM: You're seeing my work with a microscope but never critiqued your own
- PM: If we attack Congress, it's reported as an attack on opposition
Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted from a Nida Fazli
ghazal to throw a challenge to the opposition, particularly the Congress, in his reply in the Rajya Sabha to the motion of thanks on the President's Address today.
The lines from the
ghazal translate to, "
If you have the courage, then show me you can tread my path."
The tone of the PM's speech in the Upper House was less combative than the one in the Lok Sabha last week, where he had taken on Rahul Gandhi in a point-by-point rebuttal of the Congress vice-president's speech attacking the government during the debate in that house.
The
PM's counter-attack on the Congress, however, continued. "Death has a blessing. It never gets blamed for anything. If somebody dies, the blame goes to reasons like cancer, age... Death itself is never blamed or defamed. Sometimes I feel that Congress also has this blessing... Congress never gets the blame," PM Modi said in the Rajya Sabha, where the Congress is the largest party and the government is in a minority.
He rebutted the criticism of Congress leaders of his government's policies by detailing schemes and initiatives, also telling the opposition party, "You are looking at my work through a microscope. Had you used but a binocular and critiqued your own initiatives while you were in power then it would have been better."
The Prime Minister also added, "If they had done so much hard work when they were in power, they wouldn't be here," blaming previous Congress governments for the challenges and crises the country finds itself in. "What we have inherited from you... We are getting tired trying to clean up the mess," PM Modi said.
When the Opposition benches raised a noise over his reiteration that the government aims at doubling farmer incomes by 2022, PM Modi said, "I'm not an economist like Manmohan Singh, I don't have his immense intellect. But I'm from a humble upbringing, have witnessed hardships of poverty... Can farmer incomes be doubled by 2022? If we make sure that soil health cards are used effectively then yes it's a real possibility."
Dr Manmohan Singh, PM Modi's predecessor is a Congress lawmaker in the Rajya Sabha and was present in the House.