'Compulsive' criticism, Congress frustrated over India's rising global stature: PM Modi

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, February 8

“Narendra Modi is a member of every Indian family and the trust of 140 crore Indians is his safety shield, which your lies and accusations cannot breach,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said to the Congress in the Lok Sabha a day after party MP Rahul Gandhi accused the government of aiding industrialist Gautam Adani’s rise.

Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, the PM said crores of poor and deprived beneficiaries of government’s schemes would never trust the allegations and lies being peddled by some people.

Attacking the Congress for “compulsive instead of constructive criticism”, the PM referred to the UPA’s tenure from 2004 to 2014 as a “lost decade”. He said the 2020-2030 period would be “India’s decade as the world looks at it with hope and trust and sees its own prosperity in India’s”. Describing the Congress and its leaders (without naming anyone) as “people steeped in pessimism”, the PM said India was brimming with confidence and was “tolerant but never accepted negativity”.

In a veiled jibe at Rahul Gandhi, who yesterday said Harvard Business School should study the Indian model of government-business tango, the PM said, “Some people are crazy about Harvard. Harvard has actually done one study, ‘The rise and decline of India’s Congress Party’. I am sure Harvard and other prestigious universities will soon study the continuing decline of the Congress and those behind it.”

Noting that people consumed by pessimism “can’t tolerate a resurgent India and are sorrowful about the country’s rising global stature with Digital India making waves”, the PM said, “For 22 years you remained victims of the misunderstanding that you could destroy Modi with lies. People’s faith in Modi is not a creation of the media. It’s the result of devoting every moment of life in the service of the people. Your lies and accusations will have to cross the wall of 140 crore Indians to reach Modi. The trust of my people is my safety shield which your accusations and falsehoods cannot breach.”

The PM said the world today was looking at India with trust because of the country’s “political stability, rising credibility and expanding opportunities”, elements which the previous two decades of political instability could not ensure.

The PM attacked the Congress-led UPA for “converting every opportunity into adversity”, be it the 2010 Commonwealth Games which ended in scam, the 2G scam at the height of a global technological revolution and coal scam. “The period from 2004 to 2014 was a period of maximum scams in the history of independent India,” the PM said, triggering a Congress walkout.

Steering clear of repeated interruptions by the Opposition on the Adani issue, the PM asked the Congress, “Why will the 80 crore poor who received free ration throughout Covid trust your lies? Will the 11 crore farmers who receive three annual instalments of PM Kisan Samaan trust your accusations?”

Earlier at the start of the PM’s reply, the BRS walked out flashing placards, demanding a JPC probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.

Running away from JPC probe: Congress

• Rajya Sabha Congress MP KC Venugopal alleged that the government was ‘running away’ from a JPC probe into the allegations against Adani Group as it wanted to ‘hide something’.

Breach of privilege notice against Rahul

• BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday gave a notice for breach of privilege against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi
• The notice was over ‘derogatory and misleading’ remarks against the PM in Parliament
• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said he would look into it