A day after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi stood up in Parliament and tore into the government and the prime minister, on Thursday, Narendra Modi took centre stage to give the vote of thanks to the President’s speech on the opening day of the Budget session.
The PM didn’t hold back and launched a scathing attack against the Congress.
Here are the highlights from his speech:
A) On disruptions:
-- I am very worried about the recent disturbances in Parliament
-- When Parliament is not allowed to function, every one is at loss
-- I invite all members to cooperate in getting various crucial bills passed in the House
-- House is a place where debates are to take place, but if boundaries are maintained during a debate then it is fruitful
-- This is not something I am saying, this has been said by former PM Rajiv Gandhi
-- Hindering debate in the House is very counter-productive
-- Bills that are to be passed are for the people. They are for freeing the system from middlemen
-- I appeal to the Opposition to help pass important bills in both Houses of Parliament
-- GST Bill is yours, why are you opposing it
-- Saying all this because people must know that bills have been passed here but have been stopped thereafter
-- Why isn’t the House allowed to run, not because of anger against government, but because of inferiority complex
-- Some people just age but do not mature; they protest just for the sake of protesting and do not understand issues
B) On schemes
-- You are mocking Make in India? If it's not successful, let's talk about it
-- We constructed toilets because you did not do it. We electrified 18,000 villages in India because you did not do it
-- Had we worked for the development of the poor, we would not have needed a policy for the poor to dig roads and get employment. We would not have needed MNREGA if there was no poverty. We are working to improvise on the policies for betterment
-- We have pushed this country to such a deplorable state wherein even a skilled labour is forced to take up unskilled jobs
-- The problem is not that things are not being done, the Opposition's problem is that we are doing better than them
