Kept 'river of lies' flowing, 'twisted history': Congress slams PM Modi's speech in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his speech in the Rajya Sabha, saying he kept the "river of lies" flowing and "twisted" history but did not speak on the real issues of the people.

Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of practising appeasement politics to get votes and asserted that the BJP-led Union government was working on the principle of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'.

The prime minister said the Congress' priority was "family first" and its policies had been focused around it.

Asked about the prime minister's address, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said Modi "kept the river of lies flowing" during his 90-minute speech.

"He only has two weapons -- 'Pradhan Mantri Congress Badnam Yojana' and 'PM Itihaas Tod-Marodh Yojana'. He targeted Nehru and the Congress and presented a new history before the House. It was all lies," he said.

He did not say anything on the real issues of unemployment, economic inequality, polarisation, inflation and deteriorating ties with the US. He only targeted the Congress, the former Union minister added.

"If he (Modi) would have said something proper, we could have debated it … But when he just spoke lies and gave a new shape to history, what can one say to that? We respect the post of prime minister but a person who cannot speak the truth even by mistake, how can we respect him?" Ramesh told PTI Videos outside Parliament.

Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in the Rajya Sabha, the prime minister also accused the Congress of being against the Constitution's chief architect BR Ambedkar, and recalled the Emergency of 1975-77 as well as incidents of alleged suppression of freedom of expression under earlier Congress regimes.

Modi said his government had worked for the uplift of the poor and that it stood with the country's middle class and the "neo-middle class".

"Nation first is the BJP's priority..." Modi said.

"I say it with a lot of pride... For five to six decades, there was no alternative model for the people. After a long time, after 2014, the country got to witness a new model, which is not based on appeasement but 'santushtikaran (satisfaction of all)'," he said.

"The earlier model, especially under the Congress, was appeasement in everything. This became the crux of its politics. It would give something to small groups and deprive others. At the time of elections, it would give false hope. It ran its politics by fooling people," he said.