PM defends note ban in Lok Sabha, tears into Cong, Rahul

New Delhi: On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at his acerbic best. Replying to a discussion on Motion of Thanks to President Pranab Mukherjee’s address in Lok Sabha, Mr Modi tore into the Congress while defending his contentious demonetisation decision.

Like Swachh Bharat, he said, the decision on demonetisation is a movement to clean India. “The timing of note ban was perfect,” Mr Modi said.

With three days left for the first phase of the high-stake Uttar Pradesh elections to begin, the Prime Minister rattled out a list of achievements of his government, ranging from welfare schemes for farmers to surgical strikes.

Signalling to the BJP’s core votebank and playing the jingoism card, he looked at the Congress benches and said, “I was surprised to see some of the statements made by some of you about surgical strikes. Put your hand on your heart and ask yourselves if that was right.”

“Akhir bhukamp aa hi gaya (finally earthquake happened),” Mr Modi said, ridiculing Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s now famous remark during the Winter session of Parliament — “Main bolungua toh bhukamp aa jayega”.

Mr Modi, however, framed his jibe in the context of the Uttarakhand earthquake on Monday night, drawing sharp criticism from the Opposition and twitterarti for being insensitive.

Taking a dig at the Congress and Mr Gandhi, the Prime Minister, without naming names, said, “I was wondering why the earthquake came. When someone sees ‘Seva’ or any positive virtue in the word ‘SCAM’ then mother earth gets upset.”

Last week, while addressing a rally in Meerut, Mr Modi had asked the people of UP to “rid the state of SCAM — S for Samajwadi (party), C for Congress, A for Akhilesh (Yadav) and M for Mayawati.”

Amidst noise and disruption by the Opposition, the Prime Minister continued to pull punches. Taking a poetic jibe at the Congress, Mr Modi quoted satirist and humourist Kaka Hathrasi, “Antarpat main khojiye, chhipa hua hai khot. Mil jaayegi aapko, bilkul satya report (Look deep into your mind where bad intentions are hidden. Introspection will give you a very true idea of yourself.)”

The Prime Minister, who was accused by the Opposition of running away from a debate on demonetisation, strongly defended his decision saying it was the right step taken at the right time to rid the Indian economy of tax evasion and black money. Mr Modi also hit back at Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s dog comment on Monday.

“Hum kutton wali parampara se pale bade nahin hain (We were not raised as dogs),” the Prime Minister said, and added, “Inkey mooh se sunne ko nahi mila hai ki koi Bhagat Singh, Azad bhi they; inko lagta hai ki aazadi sirf ek pariwaar ne dilayi hai.” (They never speak about Bhagat Singh and Azad; They think as if only their families were behind India’s freedom.)”

He recalled the Emergency when Opposition leaders were jailed. On Monday, Mr Kharge had said, “People such as Gandhiji, Indiraji have sacrificed their lives for country’s unity, who came from your side? Not even a dog.”

But there were moments when the Opposition got back at him. When the Prime Minister said, “Hum desh ke liye jee rahe hain (We live for the country),” the Opposition shouted, “Jio, Jio.”

In his marathon reply, which lasted 95 minutes, the Prime Minister kept hitting at the Congress.

He questioned the Congress for failing to notify benami property. “In 1988, Rajiv Gandhi came to power with more majority than Nehru. The Congress was everywhere, from panchayat to Parliament. A bill was made to tackle benami property but it was never notified. Why, all these 26 years, the bill was never notified?” he asked.

He targeted the Congress and its dynastic politics. “This country very well knows the democracy of the Congress. Democracy has been sacrificed at the altar of one family.”  

Responding to Congress attack on demonetisation, the Prime Minister said that unlike the past, when the country talked of loss to the exchequer in scams in coal and 2G spectrum allocation, the Opposition now asks how much money Modi has brought back.

With an eye on the elections, the Prime Minister spoke of his government’s effort to empower the poor. Looking at the Opposition, he said, “Aap kitne bhi bade kyun nahi hon, aapko garib ka haq luatana padega (no matter how big you are, you will have to return the dues of the poor).”

Launching into rhetoric, he said, “We are not concerned about the outcomes of the election, but the well-being of the country and the poor.”

Interspersed with his trademark pauses, the PM made a point-by-point refutation of the Opposition’s charges on a range of issues, including surgical strikes across the Line of Control on the intervening night of September 28-29, and reeled out comparative figures for schemes and projects to lay optical fibres, build roads, farm and crop insurance schemes including MNREGA allocations, LED bulb schemes, the LPG subsidy scheme among others.

The PM also explained the rationale behind the advancement of the Budget date and doing away with a separate Railway Budget, both British legacies. While the change in the Budget date from February last to February 1 would result in better utilisation of funds, having just one Union Budget would lead to a comprehensive approach to the country’s transport sector, he said.