Congress never tried to solve permanent problems of country: PM Modi

Congress never tried to find solutions to the permanent problems, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said attacking the Congress while replying to the Motion of Thanks in the President's address.

Addressing the Rajya Sabha, PM Modi said, "Mallikarjun Kharge said that Congress built a strong foundation in 60 years. In 2014, when I saw minute details, I saw that in 60 years, the Congress family has only built potholes on the path."

"Despite being in power from the Panchayat level to the Parliament they never, "thought or tried" to being solutions to permanent problems," he said.

He said that BJP's priority remains the common public, under which they made LPG connections available to 25 crore families in the country.

"We have transformed the working culture with the power of technology. Our focus is on increasing speed and enhancing scale," he said.

Prime Minister said that there was a time when even bringing a handpump to a village was celebrated, and the country has witnessed the tokenism of problems.

"In last 3-4 years, around 11 crore houses have got tap water connections. For the empowerment of common people, we started the Jan Dhan account movement. In the last nine years, 48 crore Jan Dhan accounts were opened across the country," he said.

"On the other hand, the public is continuously "closing" your accounts, and you are taking out that frustration here," he added.

Taking a jibe at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, he said, "Kharge Ji complains that I visit Kalaburagi. He should see the work done there. More than 1.70 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts have opened in Karnataka including over 8 lakh accounts in Kalaburagi. So many people getting empowered, while someone's account getting closed, I can understand the pain."

Attacking Congress further, "They (Congress) used to say 'Gareebi Hatao' but did nothing for over four decades. While we work hard to meet the expectations and aspirations of the people of the country."

Talking about 'secularism', PM Modi said, "True secularism is making sure that the benefits of different government schemes reach all eligible beneficiaries."

PM Modi further emphasized that the government has identified 110 aspiration districts in the country.

"Education, infra, and health have improved in these districts due to continued focus and performance review. This has benefitted more than three crore tribals," he added.