JOIN US'Jitna keechad uchaloge, kamal utna hee zyada khilega': PM Modi 'thanks' protesting Opposition in Rajya Sabha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit back at the opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, saying the more "keechad" (dirt) they will fling, the bigger "kamal" (lotus) will bloom. With opposition MPs, throughout his 80-minute speech in Rajya Sabha, chanting slogans to demand a "joint parliamentary committee probe" into allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research and alleged his collusion with industrialist Gautam Adani, Modi said he alone was more than a match for all who are taking turns shouting slogans to oppose him.
In his reply to the motion of thanks to the President's address, the PM thumped his chest to assert that he has devoted his life to the service of the nation and wants to take it forward, which has rattled the opposition parties who are indulging in political games to save themselves.
Pointing to the Congress complaint that his government does not adequately honour the contribution of the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in nation-building, Modi asked why Nehru's descendants never used his surname. "If we miss mentioning Nehru anywhere, they (Congress) get upset. Nehru was such a great person, then why does none of them use the Nehru surname. What is the shame in using the Nehru name," he said. Citing a newspaper report, the PM said the Congress named as many as 600 schemes after the Nehru-Gandhi family.
MPs from opposition parties, barring Shiv Sena, trooped into the Well of the House and chanted slogans. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked them to return to their seats, even cautioning them with disciplinary action. Later in the day, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien accused the government of censoring visuals of opposition protests in the Rajya Sabha during the PM's speech on Sansad TV.
Responding to the speech by the leader of the opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, Modi said he understands the Congress president's pain as the "empowered and aware" residents of Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) have "closed" his account there, referring to Kharge's first-ever electoral defeat in his career spanning over five decades in 2019. On Wednesday, Kharge said the PM has been targeting his home constituency of Gulbarga. "Yesterday, Kharge ji complained that Modi visits my constituency repeatedly. I want to tell Kharge ji that he should also see that 1.7 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened in Karnataka. In his constituency, more than 8 lakh Jan Dhan accounts have been opened." "When so many bank accounts are opened, and people become empowered and aware...someone's account gets closed after so many years. I can understand his pain," Modi said.
The PM accused Congress of adopting only "tokenism" to solve the country's problems and how successive Congress governments at the Centre abused Article 356 to dismiss state governments. "Keechad unke pass tha, mere pass gulal. Jo jis ke pass tha, usne diya uchhal (they had dirt and I had 'gulal', whosoever had whatever they flung in the air)" Modi quoted Manik Verma's poem in response to the allegations opposition parties levelled on him and his government. "Some people's behaviour and language are disappointing not just for the House but for the country," he said about the allegations opposition parties levelled on him.