"The Bristish have left but divide and rule remained," PM Narendra Modi said in parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a no-holds barred attack on the Congress on Monday, accused it of adopting the "Divide and rule" policy of the British to rule a multicultural, diverse country. Hurling back the words of Jawaharlal Nehru in response to Rahul Gandhi's accusations of the government hurting federalism, he said it was the Congress which had the "divisive mentality".
"Angrez chale gaye (the Bristish have left) but divide and rule remained... That's why the Congress has become the leader of 'Tukde Tukde' gang," he said in reply to the debate on Motion of Thanks to President's Address in the Lok Sabha, using the BJP's pejorative for a section of activists, non-profits and student protesters.
Quoting from Jawaharlal Nehru's book, the Discovery of India, he said, "Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Andhra, Oriya, Assamese, Kaannada, Malayali, Sindhi, Punjabi, Hindustani... for hundreds of years, have made their own identity."
It was his answer to Rahul Gandhi, who said in parliament last week said the Constitution does not refer to India as a country but as a "Union of States" and that the BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are "playing with the foundation of the country".
"My great grandmother (former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) was shot 32 times. My father (former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi) was blown into pieces. I know what it is. You are fiddling with something dangerous. If you don't stop you'll create a problem," Mr Gandhi had said.
"Rashtra is not an arrangement of rule or government -- it is a live soul for us. For 1000 years, people have been connected to it," PM Modi said on Monday, quoting the ancient text of Vishnu Puran. Mr Gandhi's Gandhi's comments on exclusion of the idea of Tamil Nadu from India's institutions he labelled as "attempts to instigate Tamil sentiments".
"Those who can't stop us democratically are trying to stop us by indiscipline. But they'll fail. The Congress's will to come to power has ended. But when you're not getting anything, ruin something at least," he said, to a chorus of protest.
The Prime Minister also accused the opposition of being responsible for the countrywide spread of Covid and the migrant crisis in the initial days and alleging that this was "paap (sin)". Pointing at the opposition-ruled governments in Maharashtra and Delhi, he alleged, "You people pushed the labourers into difficulties".
"The Congress crossed the limit," he said. "During the first wave… the Congress at the Mumbai railway station gave tickets to labourers to go and spread coronavirus… In Delhi, the government used mics on jeeps in slums to go home, arranged buses," the Prime Minister said, adding that in Uttar Pradesh and other states "where corona didn't have this intensity, there also coronavirus spread due to this".
Along with blaming the Centre over the pandemic, the opposition, PM Modi contended, has never acknowledged the government's achievements.
"During Covid, the Indian economy was the fastest growing in the world, farmers produced record quantity foodgrains… Lot of countries faced food shortages. But this country didn't let anyone die of hunger. India gave free ration to over 80 crore people and still giving," he said.
All this, he implied, was deliberate, because "some people thought Corona will ruin Modi's image". "Is it country not yours or the people? Aren't their happiness sorrows yours as well?" he said.
For this behavior of the Congress, "Not just me, the entire country is fed up", he said, citing as example states that did not elect the Congress for decades.
"In 1988, the people of Nagaland voted for the Congress last. Odisha voted for you last in 1995 -- it has been 27 years. In 1994, you won majority in Goa single-handedly, but Goa didn't accept you since. In 1988, in Tripura, 34 years ago, you got the mandate. In 1985, it was the turn of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. In West Bengal, they voted for you last in 1972," PM Modi said.
Even the poor, he said, have deserted the Congress, though poverty remains. Citing the Congress slogans of "Garibi Hatao, used since 1971", he said, "The poor in India are not traitors that they push out a government that works for them. Your bad situation came because you thought you'll use slogans... but they have awakened. They have stopped you at 44 seats".