PM Modi questions Congress’ ‘victory-defeat jibe’ on BJP’s win

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 26

Continuing with his attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech in Rajya Sabha after the Lok Sabha elections results said it was an insult to voters of the country to question efficacy and veracity of EVMs and the BJP’s resounding victory.

In his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Modi, while claiming there has to be a limit to the arrogance of the opposition party, said there is a problem with the Congress “as it does not accept defeat and cannot digest victory”.

“After such a big mandate, you say you (BJP) have won, but the country has lost... If the Congress loses, does the country get defeated? Does the Congress mean the country and the country means the Congress. There is a limit to arrogance,” the prime minister said, adding that such utterances pain him to see the voters’ wisdom is being questioned.  

Going by the Congress party’s arguments, Modi wondered whether victory of the Congress in Wayanad and Rae Bareli seats too were “defeat of the country”.

The prime minister also noted that the Congress could not win even a single Lok Sabha seat in 17 states. The time has come for the party to introspect and “accept defeat”, he added.

Modi said the world must know more about “our electoral processes as the scale is immense, but some people kept talking about the EVM issue in this House”.

He said, “I want to tell them — there was a time when we were 2 MPs in Parliament. People mocked us. But, we worked harder and won the trust of people. We did not make excuses and blame the polling booth. Let us appreciate how our electoral processes have improved.”

Touching upon the issue of ‘One Nation, One Election’, the prime minister said, “We are seeing this same attitude when it comes to discussing the issue. Yes, people may not like the idea or have inputs on this. But, it is important to present these ideas and have discussions on the subject.”

Modi also wondered why opposition parties were opposing the idea of ‘New India’, asking them not to thrust the people of the country towards negativity by opposing it, as this was a sin.

“Do we need that old India where Cabinet proposals were torn in press conferences or where there are scams all over and support is extended to ‘tukde tukde’ gang. Do we need that old India where there was corruption,” he said, adding people of the country were not ready to take India behind.

Modi also said he was saddened by the lynching incident in Jharkhand.

“The lynching in Jharkhand has pained me. It has saddened others too. But, some people in the Rajya Sabha are calling Jharkhand a hub of lynching. Is this fair? Why are they insulting a state? None of us have the right to insult the state of Jharkhand,” he noted while saying whether it is Jharkhand, or West Bengal or Kerala, incidents of violence should be treated in the same manner and perpetrators of violence should brought to justice to show unity of purpose.