NDA MPs take part in the protest march in New Delhi on Thursday. (Express Photo by: Tashi Tobgyal) NDA MPs take part in the protest march in New Delhi on Thursday. (Express Photo by: Tashi Tobgyal)

As the monsoon session ended in a washout on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed NDA MPs to fan out across the country to “expose” the Congress. Drawing a parallel with Emergency, he said the disruption of Parliament showed the Congress’s “desperation” for power.

“We accept this undemocratic challenge by the Congress and will take it to the people. Our people will go to every nook and corner to expose the Congress, which is trying to stop the growth of the country,” he said.

Addressing the NDA parliamentary party meeting here, he said, “Congress party wants to save the family, while BJP wants to save the country as it is our principle.”

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The Prime Minister asked NDA MPs and ministers to hold protests across the country, especially targeting constituencies represented by Congress and Left MPs, during a month-long campaign.

In his 25-minute speech, Modi re-affirmed his government’s commitment to the welfare of the poor and deprived sections, and said Congress was “rattled” by rapid development taking place. He asserted the opposition party’s bid to stall the initiatives would not be allowed.

Read Also: Rahul immature, Congress’ act in Parliament a lesson for India: Jaitley

The Prime Minister said the government was trying to resolve all pending disputes one after the other and highlighted the Naga peace accord and the land boundary pact with Bangladesh.

The NDA parliamentary party also passed a resolution against the “deliberate and forcible” disruption of the monsoon session by the Congress and called upon the people to see through the party’s “patently undemocratic” behaviour.

Recalling the Emergency, the Prime Minister said the Congress had displayed the same “anti-democracy trait” in Parliament in the last 15 days as it did then out of fear of losing power.

“The Prime Minister did mention that when he was a political worker during the JP movement and when Emergency was imposed, there was a thought process that it was difficult for then Prime Minister to stay in power as they wanted power to stay with one family… He said today, the Congress party’s attitude confirms they are completely desperate when they are out of power and the symptoms are there of a family rule, of a family dictatorship… and we are there to protect democracy and we will take very step to protect democracy and not promote a family,” said Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy, quoting the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister accused the opposition party of bringing politics to a new low by doing “undemocratic” things, and said its “hatred” for BJP was evident. He also alleged that Congress was bent upon “killing democracy”.

Later, the NDA MPs took out a “Save Democracy March” from Vijay Chowk to Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament complex. The march, after days of a bitter face-off with Congress and other opposition parties in Parliament, was led by top Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari. The marchers included BJP patriarch L K Advani.

The party plans to take out rallies across the country, particularly targeting the constituencies of Congress and Left MPs, to highlight their “obstructionist attitude” and “negative politics”.

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