New Delhi: Ahead of Delhi Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took potshots at the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) while replying to the Motion of Thanks on President Droupadi Murmu’s address in Parliament.
In a veiled dig at AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, PM Modi said that some people “focused on jacuzzi, stylish showers” while NDA was keen on providing water to every home. “We have taken several steps which have saved a lot of money, but we have not used that money to build a ‘Sheeshmahal’, instead we have used that money to build the nation,” he said further sharpening the attack on Kejriwal.
The BJP leaders have been attacking Kejriwal for the alleged lavish spending, amounting to Rs 45 crore of taxpayers’ money, on luxury renovations at the official bungalow which Kejriwal occupied as the chief minister.
Taking a jibe at Lok Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the Prime Minister said, “…Those who have photo sessions in the huts of the poor, for their own entertainment, will find the mention of the poor in Parliament boring. I can understand their anger.”
Defending the President’s speech, the PM said, “…if we minutely study the President’s Address, it is clear that she spoke about building trust among people regarding the coming 25 years and Viksit Bharat. Her Address strengthens the resolve of Viksit Bharat, builds new confidence and inspires the common people.”
Modi also lambasted divisive forces that are trying to divide the country and those indulging in the “politics of poison”. “Some people are speaking the language of urban Naxals openly and challenging the Indian state. …We live by the spirit of the Constitution, and that is why we make strong decisions. Our Constitution does not give the right to discriminate”.
The PM added that those who live with the Constitution in their pockets have forget how they pushed Muslim women into hardships. “For some people, speaking about caste is fashion. For the last 30 years, OBC MPs have been demanding that OBC Commission be granted Constitutional status. Those who see a benefit in casteism today did not think of the OBC community back then. We granted Constititutional status to the OBC Commission. SC, ST and OBC get more opportunities in every sector – we have worked very strongly towards this. I pose an important question to the citizens through this House – have there even been 3 MPs simultaneously from the same family of SC community? I also ask, tell me if there ever were 3 MPs simultaneously from the same family belonging to the ST community…There is a vast difference between their words and actions…”
Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi’s speech raking up foreign policy in the Lok Sabha, PM Modi said, “A few people think that they don’t appear mature if they don’t speak on foreign policy. They think that they should definitely speak on foreign policy, even if it causes harm to the country.”
He also suggested to all parliamentarians and Indians interested in understanding foreign policy to read ‘JFK’s Forgotten Crisis’, which revolves arounf meetings between Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then US President John F Kennedy. “This book was written by a foreign policy scholar (and) in it there is a mention of India’s first PM, who also held the Foreign Affairs portfolio. It had his conversation with JFK when the country was dealing with a crisis situation… the book details what games were played in the name of foreign policy…”
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi questioned the government over reports India had surrendered over 4,000 sq km of its territory to China.
He further stated that a “few parties are deceiving the youth”. “These parties are ‘aapda’ on the future of youth. In Haryana, the country has seen how we work. We promised jobs and as soon as the govt was formed, youth got jobs. As a result of what we do, we registered a grand victory in Haryana for the third time…In Maharashtra too, we had historic results and we did this with the blessings of people.”
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