Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. (Screengrab) Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. (Screengrab)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday came down heavily on the Congress for only ‘recognising the works of the Gandhi-Nehru family’, saying the Grand Old Party did not even credit the work of its own former prime ministers Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, leave alone BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“Congress did not recognise the work of others, including their party members. I challenge the government that was in power between 2004-2014 (Congress) to mention if they ever praised the work of Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Did they ever speak about good work of Narasimha Rao Ji?” Modi, who was speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the Lower House, said.

“The same people did not even speak of Manmohan Singh Ji in Lok Sabha in this debate. On the other hand, we gave Bharat Ratna to Pranab Mukherjee,” he added.

Slamming the Gandhi dynasty for ‘taking credit for national development and not giving recognition to anyone outside the family’, the PM said, “There are some people who feel only a few names contributed to national progress. They only want to hear those few names and ignore the others. We think differently, we feel each and every citizen has worked for India’s progress,” he said.

About Emergency, Modi said, “A few people were constantly asking during the debate- Who did it? Who did it? I want to ask them- today is 25th June. Who imposed the Emergency? Who trampled over the spirit of the Constitution, gagged the media and bullied the judiciary? We can’t forget those dark days.”

Emergency was imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on this day in 1975 and it was in effect till March 21, 1977.

The Prime Minister also claimed that the saffron party was voted back to power with a bigger mandate as it “remained closer to the people at the grassroots”, unlike the Congress, that “has risen so high that they have been uprooted from the ground”.

“You have risen so high that you have been uprooted from the ground. Our aim is to remain closer to the people at the grassroots and strengthen them,” he said.

Responding to Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s remark on the 2G scam, PM Modi said, “Some members asked- why is Person A not in jail or Person B not in jail. I want to tell them- this is not the Emergency where Governments jailed people as they felt like. These decisions are taken by the Courts. Courts will decide on jail and bail.”

On Monday, Chowdhury, while addressing the Lower House, had hit out at the BJP for alleging a scam in the sale of 2G spectrum. He said if there were any wrongdoing, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi would not be sitting in the Parliament.

“Did you manage to catch anybody in 2G and coal allocation scam? Did you manage to send Sonia Gandhi ji and Rahul Gandhi ji behind the bars? You came to power by calling them thieves, then how are they sitting in the parliament?” he had asked.

The Prime Minister also raked up the issue of a water crisis in the country and remembered the works of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. “Today, when we talk about water resources, I remember Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. It was Babasaheb who worked diligently on waterways and irrigation,” he said.

Indian voters have proven their concern for the country by re-electing our government “on the basis of our work” and with a bigger mandate after careful consideration, Modi said.

“In 2014, the nation had chosen us as an experiment. But in 2019, the people who reign supreme in democracy have reposed their faith in us after evaluating our performance. There is no greater satisfaction than being rewarded on the basis of your work,” he told the House.

Asserting that polls aren’t about anyone’s gains or loss, Modi said, “I do not think about elections in terms of who won and who lost. For me, what is satisfying is the opportunity to serve 130 crore Indians and do work that has made a positive difference in the lives of our citizens,” he said.

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