Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed the Rajya Sabha during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address. The address comes two days after he participated in the discussion in Lok Sabha.
Watch PM Modi's speech here:
PM Modi, during his speech, took swipe at opposition leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge & Rahul Gandhi. "I listened to your speech very carefully. It was a very entertaining speech. Usually, we get entertainment in Lok Sabha, but that person is busy in some other activities currently. But your speech gave us entertainment in Rajya Sabha."
Mocking Kharge for his comments on BJP's slogan of getting 400 seats, PM Modi went on to thank him. "I thank you for blessing me with such statement. Now, if you want to take back your blessings, you can."
"Mallikarjun Kharge ji spoke in Rajya Sabha for a long time and I was thinking about how he got the chance to speak for a long time and then I realised that two special commanders were not there so he took the advantage of it and I think that Kharge ji must have heard that song 'Aisa mauka phir kaha milega'," PM Modi said.
PM Modi also referred to the statement by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. "I heard about the challenge that came for you from West Bengal. They (Mamata) said Congress will not win even 40 seats."
The Prime Minister also blamed Congress for dismantling elected governments overnight in the past. "Congress attempted to stifle newspapers. Congress learnt new ways to break the country. Now, statements are being given to break the north and south of the country."
PM Modi said the Congress party allowed militancy and terrorism to foster for its benefits, neglected north-east and let naxalism grow. "That Congress Party is giving us lecture on national security," PM Modi.
"The Congress party which gave Bharat Ratna to own family members, named roads after family members is giving us lecture on social justice," PM Modi said.
In a swipe at the Congress party, PM Modi said Congress was inspired by the British and fostered slave mindset in the country even after independence.
"I will not ask about the Britisher who founded the Congress? If you were not inspired by the British, why did you not change the criminal laws from their era? Why did you release budgets at 5 PM? Why did you wait for Modi to change the name of Rajpath to Kartavya Path?" PM Modi asked.
"Congress is talking a lot about castes these days. Congress, since its inception, has always been against the poor, dalits and Adivasis. I wonder if Babasaheb Ambedkar was not there, had the SC/SC would have got reservation," PM Modi.
PM Modi also referred to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru once again. He read one of the letters written by Nehru during his tenure to Chief Ministers of the state, in which he said that he was against any kind of reservations, especially in jobs.
PM Modi also blamed Congress of not giving benefits of reservations to backward classes in Jammu & Kashmir for seven decades. He said it was his government which removed the article 370, which facilitated the implementation of quota in the state.
PM Modi said Congress threw out its former president Sitaram Kesari, who belonged to backward class, on streets. He also slammed Sam Pitroda, for calling Nehru the architect of reservation instead of Ambedkar.
PM Modi also hit out at the grand old party for blaming his government for destroying and selling PSUs. "Who destroyed BSNL, MTNL? Who destroyed HAL? Who destroyed Air India?" PM Modi asked.
The Prime Minister also slammed the Congress for spreading rumours against the LIC listing. "I want to tell this with pride that today, LIC shares are trading at highest rate," PM Modi said.
PM Modi also claimed that PSUs are now giving record returns and BSE-PSU index has doubled in one year.
In a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, who has embarked on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, PM Modi said that the Congress party has created a start-up for 'Yuvraj', but it turned out to be a non-starter. "Na lift ho raha hai, na launch ho raha hai (It's neither lifting, nor launching)," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister also hit out at the protests by South Indian states over indisposed funds from the Centre and said a narrative to break the nation is being peddled.
PM Modi also said that 25 crore people were brought out of poverty and ration to 80 crore people is being provided so that those brought out of poverty don't slip into it again.
PM Modi said that the Congress party is now out of warranty and people will not believe it.
