Last Updated: February 08, 2023, 19:07 IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi replies to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the Lok Sabha during Budget Session of Parliament in Delhi on Feb 8. (Image: PTI)
PM Modi asserted that years between 2004 to 2014 saw the decline of the Indian economy and observed that the country under UPA was called the “Lost Decade”
Drawing attention to the decade before 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a stinging attack on the Congress and said that the years between 2004 to 2014 were burdened with scams. He asserted that this decade saw the decline of the Indian economy and observed that the country under UPA was called the “Lost Decade”.
Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha, PM Modi stepped up his attack on the Congress and used couplets from poets like Dushyant Kumar, Kaka Hathrasi, and Jigar Moradabadi to take a dig at the grand old party.
Reciting a couplet from Jigar Moradabadi’s poem, he said, “I was watching yesterday. After the speeches of a few people, some people were happily saying, “Ye hui na baat.” Maybe they slept well and could not wake up on time. For them it has been said, “Ye keh keh ke hum dil ko behla rahe hain, wo ab chal chuke hain, wo ab aa rahe hain”.”
He also recited a few lines from Kaka Hathrasi’s poems to tear into the Congress.
Hope is visible in every area of the country, in every thinking. It is a country that runs with dreams and resolutions. But some people are immersed in such despair that what to say…
Kaka Hathrasi had said-
Seeing back and forth, why would you be inconsolable, the scene looked like the one whose feelings were the same…
– PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/qvMG3NghTG
— BJP (@BJP4India) February 8, 2023
PM Modi responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Harvard remark and used Dushyant Kumar’s poetry to give a befitting reply. He said, “Tumhare pao ke neeche koi zameen nahi, kamaal ye hai, ki phir bhi tumhe yakeen nahi.”
Noting that the country is full of self-confidence today and realising its dreams and resolutions, he said that the entire world is looking towards India with eyes of hope and credited the stability and possibility of India. He observed that India under UPA was called the “Lost Decade” while today people are calling the present decade as “India’s Decade”.
In his 90-minute speech, PM Modi also underlined that constructive criticism is vital for a strong democracy and said that criticism is like a “shuddhi yagya” (purification yagya).
He also said that instead of constructive criticism, “some people indulge in compulsive criticism”.
“In the last nine years, we have had compulsive critics who indulge in unsubstantiated allegations instead of constructive criticism. Such criticism will not pass muster with the people who are experiencing the basic facilities for the first time now,” PM Modi said, adding that instead of a dynasty, he is a member of the family of 140 crore Indians.
“The blessings of 140 crore Indians is my Suraksha Kavach,” PM Modi said, adding that those who indulge in abuses will forever wallow in disappointment and frustration.
Amid chants of “Modi! Modi!” by the treasury bench and counter sloganeering of “Adani! Adani!” by the Opposition members, the Congress members staged a brief walk out during the Prime Minister’s address.
Rahul Gandhi came to the House almost 40 minutes into PM Modi’s speech, after which his party members returned to the House.
(with inputs from agencies)
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