PM Modi in Rajya Sabha: 'If there was no Congress there would be no Emergency, no caste politics, Sikh massacre, or problems for Kashmiri Pandits'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday replied to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha in the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.

COVID-19 and India The prime minister began his reply to the Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address by speaking on COVID-19. He said, “India is being praised for the way it handled the pandemic. COVID-19 is a pandemic; the humankind has never seen such a crisis in the last 100 years. This crisis changes its forms and creates trouble for the people, the entire country and world are fighting against it.” The people of India have taken the vaccine and they have done this not only to protect themselves but also to protect others. Such conduct, in the midst of so many global anti-vaccine movements is admirable," the prime minister said. “When it began, people wondered what will become of India and how will it impact the world. But due to the willpower and discipline of the 130 crore people of the country, India is being appreciated across the world,” he said. He added that people kept questioning India’s progress during the pandemic, but the Centre ensured that 80 crore citizens get access to free ration. It was also ensured that record number of houses are built for the poor. Five crore rural households were given clean tap water connection during the COVID crisis. During the first lockdown, after a lot of discussions it was decided that villages will be exempt from lockdown. As a result the farmers had bumper productivity even during a pandemic, Modi said. He said, “government made record purchases and farmers received higher MSP. They received money directly into bank accounts.” Besides, the PLI scheme helped India become the leading manufacturer of mobiles and had encouraged auto and battery manufacture, he said. “The MSME sector provided highest employment,” he added.

MSME sector provides highest employment. We similarly have agriculture sector. We ensured that no hindrance comes before them. As a result, there was bumper productivity & govt made record purchases. Farmers received higher MSP. They received money directly into bank accounts: PM pic.twitter.com/av193rY8kL

— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2022

“Everyone must focus on how to take country forward in next 25 years when India completes 100 years of Independence. India is among the top three nations in terms of startups due to efforts of youth,” he said, adding that the government is focused on infra projects to help generate employment opportunities during the pandemic," the prime minister said. AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan Continuing on the note of employment generation and taking the country forward, the prime minister said “defence corridor is being set up in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. MoUs are being signed, people from the MSME sector is coming to the defence sector. It’s encouraging to see that people of the country have the ability and they are coming forward to make the country self-reliance in the sector.” Indirect dig at Opposition The prime minister said that while the country struggled to get out of the coronavirus quagmire, “Attempts were made to speak to some political parties to convince them to not attend an all-party meeting over coronavirus where the government was supposed to give detailed presentation. They themselves did not come and boycotted the meeting. Some people need to self-introspect.” He alleged that games were played due to political selfishness and campaigns were undertaken against Indian vaccines. Dynastic politics Modi said that the biggest threat to India’s democracy is dynastic parties. When one family gets too prevalent in a political party, political talent suffers. “The difficulty being faced by Congress is that they never thought of anything else besides the dynasty. We’ll 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,” he said. The prime minister also said, “It was said in the House that Congress laid India’s foundation and BJP just hoisted a flag. It wasn’t said like a joke in the House. It’s result of serious thinking that’s dangerous to nation - some people believe that India was born in 1947. Problems arise due to this thinking.” Continuing the attack on the Congress, he said that it is this mindset that has had an impact on the policies of those who received the opportunity to work for the country for the last 50 years. It gave birth to perversions. “This democracy is not due to your generosity. Those who strangulated democracy in 1975 should not speak on it,” Modi said. “Some members asked, if there was no Congress, what would happen… I would like to say, if there was no Congress there would be no Emergency, there would be no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened,” the prime minister said. Had Congress ceased to be, as per the wish of Mahatma Gandhi, democracy would have been free from dynastic politics; India would have walked on the path of national resolutions, instead of taking to foreign view. Had Congress not been there, then there would have been no blot of Emergency, continued Modi. Soon after Congress MPs walked out of the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We’ve walked out of the PM speech on Motion of Thanks because instead of speaking on President’s Address he accused the Congress.” Meanwhile, the prime minister continued his attack on the Opposition, saying, “When Congress was in power, they did not allow the country’s development. Now when they are in the Opposition, they are obstructing the development of the country. They are now objecting to the idea of ‘Nation’. If the idea of ‘Nation’ is unconstitutional, then why is your party called Indian National Congress? he asked. Concluding his speech, the prime minister said, “I request all to continue believing in India’s bright future. We should not miss this opportunity, if we catch it, then this journey of 25 years will take us far.” Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.