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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took a veiled jab at the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, saying that people who resort to “photo sessions” at the homes of the poor will find boring the discussion in Parliament about such deprived people.
“Those who get photo sessions done at the huts of poor people find talk on them boring,” the PM said during his reply today to the motion of thanks to President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint session of parliament.
Talking about the union government’s efforts in installing water taps in 12 crore houses, the PM added, “Our government has given tap water connections to 12 crore homes. We have worked so much for the welfare of the poor, and that is why the President also mentioned it in her speech.”
“If we have responsibility, then we cannot just identify the problem and leave it at that, we need to focus on finding solutions too,” PM Modi said.
Extending his criticism of Congress further, PM Modi also in a veiled reference to former PM Rajiv Gandhi said, “We had a PM, he wanted to be called Mr Clean, he understood the problem. He said if Rs1 leaves Delhi then only 15 paisa reaches the poor. Only one party ruled in states and the centre. This was a pure loot, a very big ‘haath safai’.” the PM said.
“Our model is clear, Janata ka paisa, Janta ke liye (the public’s money is for the public itself),” the Prime Minister said.
Contrasting it with the efforts of the current government, he mentioned the government of India’s initiative, the “JAM Trinity,” which links Jan Dhan accounts, Aadhar cards, and Mobile numbers to give direct benefit transfers to people.
“We started giving DBT, Direct Benefit Transfer. We gave Rs 40 lakh crore in the bank accounts of people. But look at the previous governments, how it was run,” PM Modi said.
As the Opposition raised slogans and shouted during his speech, the PM hit back and said, “jabh zyada bukhar chadh jata hain tabh aadmi bahut bolta hain (people talk too much when they are disappointed).”
The Prime Minister said those who were not even born in India, they were benefitting from different government schemes. “To make sure that there is no injustice done to the innocent, we did not care for political gains and losses and removed the names of 10 crore such frauds and started the initiative to take the schemes to genuine beneficiaries,” he said.
“Those who were not even Indians, not even part of this country, took advantage of the Indian funds. Without caring about political benefits or anything, we removed 10 crore such frauds and gave them to real beneficiaries after looking for them,” he said.
“When the frauds were removed, then around Rs 3 lakh crore were saved from wrong hands. I am not naming whose hands they were, but they were wrong hands,” he said.
Further, PM Modi took another potshot apparently at Rahul Gandhi, who is often seen with a copy of the Constitution in his pocket, PM Modi said, “Those who carry copy of Constitution in their pockets can’t understand its importance.”
“It is unfortunate that today some people are speaking the language of urban Naxals openly, challenging the Indian state and declaring a fight against it. Those who speak this language neither understand the Constitution nor the unity of the nation,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that for seven decades, J&K and Ladakh were deprived of their constitutional rights. “This was an injustice not only to the Constitution but also to the people of these regions…We live by the spirit of the Constitution, and that is why we make strong decisions. Our Constitution does not give the right to discriminate. Those who live with the Constitution in their pockets do not know what kind of difficulties you forced Muslim women to live in…”
The Prime Minister also hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his OBC remarks in Lok Sabha.
“For some people, speaking about caste is fashion. For the last 30 years, OBC MPs have been demanding that OBC Commission be granted Constitutional status. Those who see a benefit in casteism today did not think of the OBC community back then,” he said.
“We granted Constitutional status to the OBC Commission. SC, ST and OBC get more opportunities in every sector – we have worked very strongly towards this. I pose an important question to the citizens through this House – have there even been three MPs simultaneously from the same family of SC community? I also ask, tell me if there ever were three MPs simultaneously from the same family belonging to the ST community…” He said that is a vast difference between the Opposition’s words and actions.
In his speech in Parliament on February 3, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi mentioned the caste census and raised the issue of the participation of Dalits, OBC and Adivasis in the institutions of the country.
Rahul Gandhi raised various issues in Parliament, in which the Opposition criticised the government’s handling of the manufacturing sector, claiming that the government’s flagship programme, ‘Make in India’ had failed even after trying.
