Want to move ahead with consensus: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said that his government wanted to move ahead on the basis of consensus and not majority in parliament and it had got "unprecedented success" in taking along opposition parties during the budget session.

In his Independence Day address, Modi also gave credit to former prime ministers, states and previous governments at the centre for progress achieved in the country.

However, he took a dig at the previous government over complaints about officials not reaching their offices in time. "The place where the country has reached (in terms of progress) after Independence, it is due to contribution of all former prime ministers, all governments, all states. I pay my respects to them," Modi said.

Referring to the budget session, which concluded Thursday and passed some pending legislation, including the judicial accountability bill, Modi said his government wanted to move ahead by taking everyone along.

"We are not people who want to run the government on the basis of majority. We want to move ahead on the firm ground of agreement," Modi said. Modi said his government had achieved "unprecedented success" in taking political parties along and getting cooperation of opposition parties during the budget session.

"The credit for this not only goes to the prime minister or the government but also to opposition party MPs," Modi said. He thanked the political parties for their cooperation.
Modi also referred to news items about government officials coming to their duties in time after National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to office.

He said it was a proof of how the systems of governance had gone down over the years.
"This is proof how governments have run in the past," Modi said. Modi said he was trying to make systems of governance faster and effective.

He said that all people in government - whether they were serving as peon or cabinet secretary - had a lot of capability. "I want to mobilise their inherent strength. There is need to fast track the pace of development...I will do it. This will be done," Modi said.