Modi predicts 370 seats for BJP
NEW DELHI, Feb 5:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday made repeated attacks on India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his speech in the Lok Sabha, claiming that the Congress leader thought Indians were lazy and of low intelligence.
Modi’s nearly 100-minute speech was laced with sharp attacks on the Congress and the Gandhi family, and he said the party “never trusted India’s potential”.
“The Congress got stuck in one family. They could never see and would never be able to see people’s aspirations and achievements. The Congress never trusted India’s potential. They always considered themselves rulers and belittled people,” Modi said while replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.
Quoting an Independence Day speech by Nehru from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi 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 hardwork and smartness’.”
“He (Nehru) is giving a certificate to those people to belittle Indians. This shows that Nehru ji’s thinking about Indians was that they are lazy and of low intelligence. He did not trust their potential,” the Prime Minister said.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not think differently either, Modi 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 people today, it appears that Indira ji may not have been able to assess the people of the country correctly, but she had done an exact evaluation of the Congress,” he said.
This was the thinking of the “royal family” of the Congress about Indians, he said.
The same thinking is visible today also, Modi said, adding that he has immense faith in the ability of the country and its people.
Talking about price rise, Modi again lashed out at Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and said history is witness that when the Congress comes, it brings price rise with it.
He quoted Nehru as saying that “there are problems because prices of all things have gone up and the common people are caught up in it”
“After 10 years of this statement, Indira Gandhi said, ‘You are facing problems due to price rise…,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said his Government has reined-in inflation despite two wars and the Covid pandemic.
He again attacked Nehru when talking about Kashmir and said the Congress leader’s thinking was the root cause of the problems that Kashmir and the country had to face.
The people of Kashmir and of the country had to suffer because of Nehru’s mistakes, Modi said.
Modi charged the Congress and the UPA Government of doing injustice to backward communities, saying they insulted leaders from deprived sections.
While Congress leaders keep counting the number of OBCs in the Government, they fail to see the biggest OBC, Modi said referring to himself.
He charged the Congress and the previous UPA Government of doing injustice to Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Dubbing the National Advisory Council (NAC) as an “extra constitutional” body, he questioned the number of OBCs in it. The Government had no authority over the NAC, he said.
Referring to former Bihar Chief Minister late Karpoori Thakur, Modi said his government honoured him by announcing the Bharat Ratna for the leader who represented the backward communities.
Hitting out at the Congress, he said efforts were made in 1970 to remove him as chief minister and destabilise his government.
“The Congress could not tolerate a most backward person,” Modi said, adding that in 1987, when the party was in power everywhere, it refused to accept Thakur as leader of the opposition.
Modi predicted that the BJP will “definitely” get 370 seats and the ruling National Democratic Alliance will cross 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls as he tore into the Congress, saying its “shop” is on the verge of closure.
He said his Government in its third term will take “very big” decisions and lay a strong foundation for the India of next 1,000 years while the opposition has made up its mind to remain in opposition with reduced numbers.
Opposition members failed to offer any constructive suggestion in the debate even in the Parliament’s last session before the polls and many of them will be relegated to visitors gallery, he said, adding that he has heard some of them want to change their constituencies while some others are eyeing a Rajya Sabha berth.
The Congress was in power for many decades and now it has resolved to remain in the opposition for decades, he said.
Modi exuded confidence of retaining power for a third term and kept the attack mostly on the Congress.
“The shop of the Congress is on the verge of closure as it tries to launch the same product again and again,” he said in a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, currently leading his party’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, who has often referred to the Congress opening “mohabbat ki dukaan (shop of love) to counter BJP’s alleged “hate politics”.
The Congress has not only harmed itself but other opposition parties and the country too, he said in his likely last speech in the current Lok Sabha.
He said the Congress has adopted “cancel culture” as it seeks to cancel every achievement of the country in its single-minded pursuit to target him.
Modi also hit back at the opposition over its charge against his government that it was misusing probe agencies to target its leaders, asserting that his campaign against corruption will continue.
Probe agencies work independently and this is how the Constitution envisages them to function, he said, adding that it is for courts to judge their action.
He said the country needs a good and healthy opposition but the Congress failed in its role and did not allow other voices, including young leaders, to emerge due to its apprehension that they may overshadow others.
It can not look beyond its “shahi parivaar” (royal family), he said in a jibe at the Gandhi family.
In its first term, his government filled up the “ditches” left behind by the 10-year rule of the Congress-led UPA Government, laid the foundation of a new India in its second term and will speed up the pace of a developed India in the third, he said.
“The third term will witness very big decisions. It will lay a strong foundation of India of the next 1,000 years,” he said.
The Prime Minister cited a host of decisions taken by his Government for different sections of society, including the poor, youth, farmers and women.
He spoke of the Ram temple’s consecration ceremony to assert that not only did Lord Ram return home but the temple will continue to infuse new energy in India’s great cultural tradition.
Noting that his third term is merely 100-125 days away, he said even Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is speaking of “abki baar, 400 paar”.
Kharge during his speech in Rajya Sabha had referred to the slogan raised by BJP members to apparently take a dig at the ruling party.
BJP members lustily responded with “400 paar” when Modi asked “abki baar” a few times.
“I normally do not get into numbers. But I can see the mood of the country. It will give over NDA 400 seats and at least 300 seats to the BJP,” he said.
The ruling party had won 303 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in the 2019 general elections while the NDA had bagged 353 seats.
Modi projected 370 seats for the BJP after citing various Government achievements, including the repeal of Article 370. (PTI)
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