New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's response to the No-Confidence Motion in parliament yesterday was a virtual campaign speech scourging the Opposition -- crashing their hopes of cornering him and compelling him to speak on violence-hit Manipur. After more than an hour, when the Opposition bloc INDIA walked out, PM Modi said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already given a comprehensive response on Manipur, but the Opposition only wanted to "play politics". The NDA defeated the no-confidence motion by a comfortable margin.
"I want to tell the mothers and sisters of Manipur that the country and the parliament are with you. I want to assure the people of Manipur that we will work to develop Manipur," he said in a two-hour-thirteen-minute speech, the longest ever.
But he blamed the Opposition for the events in Manipur, saying it was the result of Congress politics. Starting with Ram Manohar Lohia's censure for Jawaharlal Nehru over his northeast policy, he traced it to the separatist movements in several northeastern states.
Such No-Confidence Motions are "lucky" for him, PM Modi said, for these turn out to be a test of the Opposition. The people judge them and return the BJP to power with a bigger mandate.
"Whichever institution they speak against, their luck turns around... You have decided that NDA and BJP will return with a record mandate," he said.
Recalling the last No-Confidence Motion moved by Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party in 2018, PM Modi said: "Even then I had said, the motion is not a floor test of our government but theirs... When voting happened, they fell short... When we went to the public, the people announced their no-confidence in them. The NDA and BJP got more votes. In a way, the Opposition No-Confidence Motion is a good omen for us".
He predicted another No-Confidence Motion in 2028, which, he said, will pave the way for victory in 2029. "But make sure you are better prepared," he said.
In a speech peppered with jabs at the Opposition, PM Modi said they had "betrayed" the people by not allowing any discussion to take place on important bills in the monsoon session. They have shown that for them, "dal" (party) is bigger than "desh" (the country). The Opposition, he said, is bowling a series of "no-balls" from which the government is scoring sixes.
"Their favourite slogan is Modi Teri Kabr Khudegi (your grave will be dug). But for me, their abuse and unparliamentary words are like tonic. I believe the Opposition has received a secret boon -- anyone they speak against end up flourishing. I am an example," he said.
He cited other examples too – the banking sector, HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and the Life Insurance Corporation – saying the organisations flourished despite the negative comments.
His sharpest barbs were directed at the Opposition Block INDIA, and Congress's Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was given repeated reminders of humiliation at the hands of Central leadership. Rahul Gandhi's "Mohabbat ka Dukaan" was not spared. "PR says mohabbat ka dukaan. But it is loot ka dukaan. Your shop has sold Emergency, Partition, History, torture of Sikhs," he said.
History shows that "Congress and its friends have no faith in India and its capabilities, PM Modi said.
"Pakistan attacked our borders and sent terrorists regularly. Kashmir was burning in the fires of terrorism. But the Congress trusted Hurriyat, separatists, and those who roamed with a Pakistani flag. We did surgical strikes. But they didn't believe us. They believed Pakistan," he added amid angry slogan-shouting by the Opposition MPs.
Halfway into the speech, the Opposition started the "Manipur, Manipur" chant. But the Prime Minister pushed on, accusing the INDIA bloc of dividing the very name of the country.
In Bengaluru – after the Congress victory in the Karnataka Elections -- they performed the "last rites" of the UPA, he said. "I had extended my condolences then… Then, to keep themselves alive, they took the support of the NDA. But as habit, they added the 'I' of ghamand (arrogance). They stole NDA. They broke up India with dots - I.N.D.I.A," he added.
The Opposition – aware that the numbers are overwhelmingly in favour of the government -- had openly said that the o-Confidence Motion is about compelling the Prime Minister to speak on Manipur. This was part of their twin demands which the government was not ready to accommodate.
Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien, even before the Prime Minister's speech ended, posted on X, formerly Twitter, "The teflon is off. The sheen has gone. He's beat." The opposition is expected to hold a press conference after the Prime Minister's address is over.