140 crore people's blessings my protective shield: PM Modi amid Oppn questions on Adani row

Faced with a hostile Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, sought to take the conversation a decade back, and said that the UPA years were mired in scams.

“It was the hallmark of the UPA government to turn every opportunity into a crisis – whether it was the nuclear deal or the 2010 CWG games. The years between 2004 and 2014 were 10 years of scams and violence,” the prime minister said. “The decade between 2004 and 2014 will be known as the lost decade, but 2030 will be India’s decade.”

Modi’s spirited speech was punctuated by chants of ‘We want JPC’ and ‘Adani’ from Opposition members, who have been demanding an investigation by a joint parliamentary committee on the allegations of the short seller Hindenburg into the businesses of Gautam Adani, and the financial exposure of financial institutions like the LIC and SBI.

Without naming him, PM Modi took aim at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said that bashing Modi is what the Opposition resorts to after they face failure. Gandhi had, on Tuesday, alleged that the prime minister’s closeness to the businessman was the reason behind the government’s silence on the alleged irregularities in Adani’s businesses, and sought answers from the prime minister.

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“I’m protected by the belief that 140 crore people have bestowed on me, the Opposition’s weapons of lies and blames will not be able to break through this,” Modi said. “People’s trust in Modi is not due to newspaper headlines or TV visuals but due to 22 years of dedication to the welfare of people.”

Modi’s assertion led to chants of ‘Modi! Modi!’ by the treasury benches, leading to Opposition MPs chanting ‘Adani! Adani!’ in reply. As Modi started his speech, the Opposition’s rank and file was conspicuous by the absence of Gandhi. But as Modi took aim at the Congress’s scams during the UPA years, the party’s MPs staged a walkout in the middle of the prime minister’s speech. They walked back in after several minutes, alongside Gandhi.

During his hour-long speech, Modi read out couplets of Hindi satirist Kaka Hathrasi and poet Dushyant Kumar to take aim at both the Congress and Gandhi.

Modi also listed the achievements of his government, and said that the country now has 103 unicorns, and is globally ranked second in mobile manufacturing, and third in energy consumption. He said that 80 crore people are receiving free ration, 11 crore farmers are benefiting from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, 3 crore people had their houses built, and 9 crore women were given free gas connections.

“This is highway reforms today, and while in 70 years, 70 airports were built, we built 70 airports in nine years,” Modi said. “A few people, drowning in despair, are unable to accept the country's progress. Opposition wasted the last nine years in making allegations, compulsive criticism has replaced constructive criticism.”

Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, which ended at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk also found resonance in the PM’s speech, who said that there are some members who have visited Kashmir recently. “I too had gone on a yatra to J&K to hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk years ago. Terrorists had put up posters and said, ‘Let’s see who has the courage to unfurl the flag here. I had declared that I will be there without any security or bulletproof jacket and hoisted the flag,” Modi said.

The prime minister is now scheduled to reply to the Motion of Thanks debate in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.