Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 8: His obsession over Congress refusing to subside, the prime minister Narendra Modi launched yet another blistering attack on the grand old party, this time in the Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday.
Picking up from where he had left on Monday in the Lok Sabha where he called the Congress party as the leader of the tukde tukde (break-up) gang, Modi continued his attack against the principal Opposition party in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday as he accused it of destabilising state governments, corruption, putting a family’s interests over everyone else’s and not respecting freedom of speech among others.
Congress members walked out of the House during Modi’s speech in the Rajya Sabha, discussing the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. “The difficulty faced by Congress is that they never thought of anything else before the dynasty. We will have to accept that the biggest threat to India’s democracy is the dynastic parties. When a family is the supreme in any party, then the first casualty is that of talent,” Modi said.
Coining a new term “urban naxals,” Modi said the Congress thinking and ideology was being influenced by the urban naxals. Congress, he said, has been “trapped by the urban Naxals” and their “thought process has been captured by urban Naxals” making their thought-process “destructive.”
Earlier, he said, national resources helped fill coffers of a few families, but now “national estates are filling the country’s coffers. It is being said we are trying to change history. We just want to improve the memory of some people. We are not changing history. Some people’s history is limited to one family,” he said.
Taking a dig at a statement on importance of federalism made by Congress’ Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha last week where he delved on two competing visions of India — one that viewed India as a Union of States, Modi said, “When Congress was in power, they didn’t allow the country’s development. Now when in Opposition, they are obstructing the development of the country. Congress has now a problem with the word ‘nation’ also. If [the word] nation is unconstitutional, then why is your party’s name Indian National Congress. Change it to Federation of Congress. Correct the mistakes done by your predecessors.”
Modi was replying to the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in Rajya Sabha. He spoke for 96-minutes. An hour into his speech, the Congress members walked out the House as a mark of protest.
Recalling the speech made by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in the Upper House last week, Modi said, “Kharge ji said Congress laid the foundation of the country and BJP only foisted its flag on it. This was not said in a lighter vein, this is a result of that thinking that India was born in 1947. And it is a result of this that the people who ruled for 50 years have this thinking, this democracy is not at your mercy. You throttled democracy in 1975.”
Further attacking the Congress, Modi added, “We should say with pride that India is the mother of democracy. Congress’s problem is that they did not think beyond dynasty. The biggest threat to India is from dynastic political parties and when a family is supreme in a party, the first casualty is talent. For years the country has suffered this thinking. I expect all political parties to follow democracy in their working also, Congress should lead this initiative.”
Retorting to Kharge’s earlier speech where he narrated the contributions of his party, Modi said, “It was said what would have happened if Congress not there…Indira is India, India is Indira. Mahatma Gandhi had understood this. I will tell you what would have happened if Congress wasn’t there- democracy would have been devoid of dynastic influence, we would be rid of foreign influence, there would be no emergency, no caste and regional divide, no Sikh genocide would have taken place, Kashmir Pandits would not have been displaced, daughters would not have been killed in tandoor (oven), if Congress was not there then people wouldn’t have to wait for basic facilities like, house, roads, toilets, I will keep counting.”
Continuing his attack, Modi said the “Congress high command” always had three ways of functioning – to discredit, destabilise and dismiss – and cited examples of state governments “dismissed” in the past.
Modi said his government had moved from cooperative federalism to “cooperative competitive federalism.” He said the prime example of federalism was the GST Council, where the state finance ministers and Union Finance Minister sat as equals and decisions were taken unanimously.
He said COVID-19 was a golden period for federal system. “Prime Minister took 23 meetings with Chief Ministers to develop a roadmap and take everyone along to frame policies. This is country’s strength. They (without naming the Congress) should introspect that when an all-party meeting was held, attempts were made that some parties do not attend…You boycotted, even the Trinamool Congress attended, I dont know who your advisers are? Pick up the next day’s newspapers, your actions were criticised,” Modi said.
Defending the government’s handling of the pandemic situation, Modi said “till the times pandemic continues, the government is committed to spending whatever is needed to help the poorest of the poor.” But, he added that “some political parties showed immaturity in the last two years, and it has harmed the country.”
He asked the members to read Baba Saheb Ambedkar on federalism. “He (Ambedkar) said federation is a union, for administrative purpose it could be divided into States, but Nation is one. Tall statements were given on federalism, have we forgotten how Chief Ministers were removed on flimsy grounds, a PM’s son did not like the arrangements at the airport so the then Andhra Chief Minister was removed, Karnataka’s Virendra Patil was removed while he was unwell. We do not have a myopic vision, we honour regional aspirations and do not see it is as a conflict. India will progress when regional aspirations are addressed. When States prosper, then the country progresses. What all didn’t happen with me when I was the chief minister? Even Gujarat was affected. But as CM I always used to say that the State will be developed for the country’s sake. People who ruled the country for decades, the way they exploited the States, they brought President’s rule over 100 times and uprooted elected governments,” he said.
He said the government had taken many steps towards women’s empowerment, including the ban on instant triple talaq. He said the decision not only benefitted women, but also “Muslim men who are fathers and brothers.” On the issue of legal age to marry, Modi asked why there should be different ages for men and women and added that he hoped the House would take a decision on the matter soon.
He said the country was observing the 60th anniversary of Goa’s liberation this year and if similar steps had been taken for Goa as Sardar Patel’s strategy for Junagadh and Hyderabad, Goa would not have remained under foreign rule for 15 years after India’s Independence. He said then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was only concerned about his reputation internationally and decided not to send the army when freedom fighters were shot at in Goa. “The people of Goa can never forget this behaviour of the Congress,” he said.
He accused some leaders of “playing games for their political self-interests” and said they had launched a “campaign against vaccines”. “But people did not listen to them, and waited in lines for the vaccines. Country’s citizens have moved past some political leaders.”