Amid ruckus, PM Narendra Modi says he outweighs entire Opposition

PM Modi said, "The more dirt you fling, the bigger the kamal - the election symbol of BJP - will bloom)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a fresh broadside against the Opposition on Thursday, saying their “keechad” (dirt) of allegations will only help the lotus bloom more and asserting he alone outweighs all who had to take turns to shout slogans to oppose him.

Thumping his chest, Modi declared that he lives for the country and wants to do something for the country, which has rattled the Opposition parties and they are playing political games just to save themselves.

“Desh dekh raha hai, ek akela kitno ko bhari padh raha hai (the country is watching how one person has outweighed so many),” he said as the opposition members kept shouting “Modi-Adani, bhai-bhai”.
 

Unperturbed by the jeering, Modi finished his 90-minute speech in reply to a debate on a motion thanking the President for her address to a joint sitting of Parliament, and listed various achievements of his government.
 

With members of the treasury benches chanting “Modi-Modi”, he pointed at the Opposition MPs who had gathered in the Well of the House in a bid to shout him down and said, “They have to take turns even to shout slogans.”

“I live for the country and have embarked with the conviction to serve the nation,” he said, adding his political opponents are playing games as they do not have the courage to take him on. The Opposition, he said, is resorting to this to save themselves.
 

Replying to the Congress charge that the BJP was ignoring Jawaharlal Nehru’s efforts in nation building after Independence, Modi retorted that if the first prime minister was so great, why have his scions never used his surname.

As he rose to speak, Opposition MPs, some holding placards, rushed into the Well shouting slogans against the PM and seeking a joint parliamentary committee probe into allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research against tycoon Gautam Adani. Hitting back, Modi said, “The more dirt you fling, the bigger the kamal — the election symbol of BJP — will bloom).” 
 

In his reply, Modi accused the Congress of adopting only “tokenism” in solving problems the country faced and said it was bothered only about its political ambitions and not the welfare of the nation. “We don’t believe in tokenism. We have chosen the path of hardwork in taking the country forward,” he said, adding technology was being used as an aid in this mission.
 

He accused the Congress of trampling on the rights of states and regional parties by dismissing elected governments on 90 occasions by “misusing” Article 356 of the Constitution. “Who are the people?”he asked and responded that Indira Gandhi alone had used the article 50 times to dismiss governments. “This country is not anyone’s fiefdom. Our policies reflect national and regional aspirations,” he said. 
 

The PM warned states against resorting to populist measures for political gains, saying it would be anarth-niti (disastrous policy). “Do not do any such sin which leaves the burden on the next generation.” 
 

Attacking the Congress, he said the party named 600 schemes after the Nehru-Gandhi family. The Congress, he charged, was against science and technology and it defamed Indian scientists who developed indigenous Covid-19 vaccines. 
 

The Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address was adopted with voice vote.