New Delhi: Targeting former Prime Ministers and Congress ideologues Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today quoted excerpts from their speeches and said they had no faith in the ability of Indians.
"The Congress never trusted India's potential. They always considered themselves rulers and belittled people," the Prime Minister said during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to President Droupadi Murmu's address.
Quoting a speech by Nehru from Red Fort, he said, "Nehru had said, 'We do not work as hard the Europeans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians or the Americans. Do not think that these communities became prosperous by some magic. They have achieved this by hard work, by smartness.' This shows Nehru thought Indians were lazy and did not have brains. He did not trust their potential," the Prime Minister said.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not think differently either, he said. "Indira ji had said from (the ramparts of) Red Fort, 'Unfortunately, it is our habit that when a good work is approaching completion, we become complacent. And when an obstacle comes, we lose hope. Sometimes it seems the whole nation has accepted defeat'. Looking at Congress today, it appears that Indira ji may have underestimated the countrymen, but she evaluated the Congress well," he said.
"This was the thinking of the Royal Family of Congress about Indians," the Prime Minister said, adding that he has immense faith in the ability of the country and its people.
The Prime Minister quoted Jawaharlal Nehru's writings to bolster his claim that "history proves that Congress governments bring inflation". "Whenever Congress came (to power), it strengthened inflation. Our government has controlled it despite two wars and a pandemic," he said.
The Prime Minister said it is the Congress that is responsible for the state of the Opposition. "They failed and didn't allow other parties to perform either. They have ruined the parliament, the Opposition and the country. I believe the country needs a strong Opposition. The country has faced the ramifications of dynasty politics, and the Congress has faced it too," he said.
The Prime Minister also took a swipe at the INDIA Opposition bloc, which is reeling under a tussle between the Congress and regional parties such as Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party. "If they can't trust each other, how will they trust the people," the Prime Minister said.