'Intellectual dishonesty', 'political deceit': PM Modi slams Opposition over farm reforms criticism

On the farm laws, he said his government is committed to empowering the small farmers in every way

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused the opposition of “intellectual dishonesty” and “political deceit” for making grand announcements in election manifestos only to make a U-turn later.

Modi, in an interview to Open magazine, lashed out at political opponents, particularly for their criticism of his decisions such as the new farm laws, rollout of the GST and Aadhaar, and construction of a new parliament building.

“There are political parties which will grandiosely make promises before elections, even put them in their manifestos. Yet, when the time comes to deliver on the same promises, these same parties and people do a complete U-turn and worse, spread the most malicious kind of misinformation on the promises they themselves had made,” Modi said.

“If you look at those who are opposing the pro-farmer reforms today, you will see the real meaning of intellectual dishonesty and rajneetik dhokhadhadi (political deceit),” the prime minister said.

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Modi said the government was ready to discuss aspects of the farm laws on which the farmers disagree with the government.

“Many meetings have also been held in this regard but no one till now has come up with a specific point of disagreement that we want this to be changed,” the prime minister said.

Modi also said that he attached big importance to criticism as it was his conviction that this helped in his own healthy development.

“I, with an honest mind, respect critics a lot. But, unfortunately, the number of critics is very few. Mostly, people only level allegations, the people who play games about perception are more in number. And, the reason for this is that, for criticism, one has to do a lot of hard work, research and, in today's fast-paced world, maybe people don't have time. So sometimes, I miss critics,” he said.

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Modi has said that he has tried to live a life walking on knife’s edge, experiencing every issue concerning the people, which reflected in policy-making over the 20 years he has been in power.

The Prime Minister said when he takes decisions, the common man feels that the prime minister understands them, think of him as one amongst them.

“I have attempted to live a life where I walk on a knife’s edge, experiencing and living every issue concerning the people. I had promised three things to people when I came to power: I will not do anything for myself. I will not do anything with wrong intention. I will create a new paradigm of hard work. People see this personal commitment of mine even today. This is how people develop trust,” the prime minister said.

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