Thus far, no further, Modi warns opposition

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged lawmakers to rise above political lines to build a new and modern India and rejected the Congress criticism that his government had tried to corner credit for the country's development by belittling his predecessors.

In an hour-long response to the two-day discussion in the Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, Modi outlined his government's achievements in the first term and set out future goals seeking to draw a contrast with the previous Congress-led regimes.

Referring to his initiatives to build toilets, provide free gas-connections, and ensuring electricity in villages, Modi said that earlier governments were questioned on why they had failed to deliver on the basic needs.

"Now, the question being asked is why is the government doing this. This has been a long journey,” the prime minister said.

Modi accused the Congress of being arrogant and not recognising the contribution of leaders beyond the Gandhi-Nehru family and “crushing India's soul” by imposing Emergency.

He also rejected the Congress' accusations that the NDA government believed in usurping credit for the work done by the previous governments. “You failed to mention the contribution of P V Narasimha Rao. You could have given Bharat Ratna to Manmohan Singh after his first term,” Modi said reminding that it was he who kept politics aside to honour former president Pranab Mukherjee with a Bharat Ratna.

“Thus far and no further,” Modi told the Congress leaders sternly, virtually warning them to stop the campaign against him.

Taking a jibe at the Congress, the prime minister said that the party had reached such great heights that it had lost connect with the grassroots.

“You have gone so high that you cannot see the ground. You are so high, that the ones on the ground seem small and insignificant. We are nowhere in competition with you on reaching great heights. Our dream is to remain rooted to the ground,” he said.

Modi also singled out Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's dare to the government to put Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi behind bars over allegations of corruption in the 2G spectrum and the CWG scam.

“We are being taunted for not putting ‘them’ in jail. This is not Emergency where governments jailed people on whims. These decisions are taken by the Courts. If someone gets bail then they should enjoy it,” the prime minister said.