Accept defeat, don’t spin mandate: PM Modi to Oppn

In a scathing speech in the Lok Sabha, Modi launched a charged rebuttal of the speech delivered the previous day by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told the Opposition it must accept defeat in the general elections and not try to twist the mandate, as he attacked the Congress, promised that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would work 24x7 for a developed India by 2047, and vowed that reforms would move at “triple speed and triple power for triple results” during his third term.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in the Lok Sabha during his speech in the parliament on Tuesday. (Sansad TV)

In a scathing speech in the Lok Sabha, Modi launched a charged rebuttal of the speech delivered the previous day by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of being childish, of his world view being amateurish, and of trying to defame Hindus who, the Prime Minister said, have been instrumental in India’s democracy flourishing. His reference was to Gandhi saying that some of the people who call themselves Hindu were indulging in violence. To be sure, some portions of Gandhi’s speech were later expunged.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been trying to portray Gandhi’s comment as one that targets all Hindus.

“Calling an entire community violent is a very serious matter,” the PM said on Monday in Parliament, to which Gandhi was quick to respond that his comment was about the BJP and the RSS.

On Tuesday, Modi pushed ahead in the same vein: “This act against the Hindus of this country will never be forgotten,” he said.

The PM also sought to set the record straight at the beginning of the 18th Lok Sabha , in the context of a raucous Opposition -- they chanted slogans , including on Manipur, which did not find a mention in Modi’s speech through the afternoon -- and a ruling coalition that has seemed subdued.

“This is the third straight time that the Congress has failed to cross 100 seats. It is their third-worst performance in India’s electoral history. It would have been good had they accepted their loss and introspected. Instead, their ecosystem is spending day and night trying to convince people that they have defeated us,” Modi said in the Lok Sabha as he accused the Opposition of trying to spin the results as a “fake victory”.

The Opposition, now with bolstered numbers in the 18th Lok Sabha, heckled Modi throughout his address with chants of “Manipur, Manipur” and “we want justice” despite Speaker Om Birla chastising them repeatedly for “upending the dignity of Parliament”.

In a 2 hour, 13 minute reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, the PM touched on a spectrum of issues in an address split in two halves.

In the first part, he focussed largely on the BJP’s economic achievements and his administration’s aims over the next five years. Around 40 minutes into his speech, however, Modi turned his attention to the election results and the Opposition’s showing.

“The NDA coming to power for the third time is historic. After Independence, this privilege has come for the second time in this country, and after 60 years. Achieving this feat comes after a lot of hard work,” Modi said, also pointing to the simultaneous elections in four states – Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh – all of which the BJP or its alliance partners won.

The Prime Minister underscored his party’s improved vote shares in several states , apart from pointing out that the BJP had also secured a seat in Kerala for the first time and thanked the people of India for giving him and his party another chance to serve.

Underlining that the NDA has won the world’s biggest election and that the people have judged the government on “every parameter” the PM pitched for Viksit Bharat — the central theme of the President’s speech -- and said, “People have seen our intent and commitment. When country gets developed, then dreams of crores of people are fulfilled. Viksit Bharat means quality or life, dignity and it will make a major improvement in the urban and rural areas. Our cities will participate in global development and a developed India will also provide crores of opportunities for our people.”

Stressing that confidence will become the driving force of development, Modi pitched for a strong, Viksit Bharat and said, “In our third term, we will work with triple the speed. Our third term means we will put in thrice the strength. In our third term, we will ensure three times the results.”

He then took aim at the Congress, a “party that had set a world record in failure”.

“The Congress has not crossed 100 seats in the Lok Sabha for three consecutive terms. Instead of conceding defeat, they are being arrogant,” he said, amid raucous protests by the Opposition.

Attempts to twist the narrative and spin their loss as a victory was like trying to pacify a child, Modi said, in an apparent reference to Gandhi.

“If a child falls off a bicycle, the adults around them say, ‘Oh look, nothing happened, just an ant died, a bird flew away... you ride the cycle so well’. All of this is done to motivate and distract the child. The same attempts are also being made today,” he said, repeatedly going back to the term “balak buddhi” (childish mind) to taunt the Congress.

“I remember a story,” he added. “A child used to tell people he got 99 marks. But the teacher revealed that he didn’t get 99 out of 100 but 99 out of 543 (total seats in Lok Sabha) . Who will tell the child that you have created a world record of failure?”

He then called the Congress a “parasitic party” that ate into its allies’ votes or fed off their success, pointing to its performance in direct electoral contests against the BJP, vis a vis its improved success rate when allied with other parties. The Congress’S strike rate against the BJP in 2024 was 29%, low, but a significant improvement from 8.3% in 2019. He further described the party as a “parasite” and said that in contests where it was the junior partner, the Opposition’s strike rate improved to 50%.

Modi also accused the Congress of trying to sow social discord. “They tried to create unrest by questioning India’s electoral process. They spread unrest about CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), and tried to create misunderstanding among people and the entire ecosystem strengthened them so that their political goals were fulfilled,” he said, also accusing the party of using “Rafale, HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) and LIC” to mislead people.

In another apparent reference to Gandhi, Modi said: “They know the truth – that they are on bail for embezzling thousands of crores of rupees (an allusion to the National Herald case), and they have been convicted for calling OBC people thieves (an allusion to Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case, when his reference to economic offenders Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi was challenged by the BJP in court as a slur on the entire Modi community) and had to apologise for irresponsible comments on the country’s top court.”

Modi said an attempt was made to mislead Parliament on the Agnipath army recruitment scheme . “The Congress can never see a strong Indian army. Everyone knows how weak our forces were during Nehru’s time.” He listed a succession of corruption scandals relating to the procurement of defence equipment.

The Prime Minister also hit out at Gandhi for holding up a photo of Lord Shiva “as a symbol of a deity in whom the Congress took refuge” when faced with a volley of attacks by the ruling party. “Jiske darshan hote hai, uske pradarshan nahi hote hai (the deity who is worshipped is not used to gain publicity),” Modi said.

The Prime Minister briefly addressed the roiling controversy around irregularities in public examinations, especially surrounding the undergraduate level National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG).

“The President expressed concerns about paper leaks in her address. I also want to tell students and youngsters that the government is serious about controlling such incidents and we are taking back-to-back steps on a war footing to fulfil our responsibilities,” he said.

“Those playing with the future of youngsters will not be spared, arrests are being made across the country in the NEET issue. The Centre has already framed strict laws and important steps are being taken to strengthen the entire system of conducting examinations,” he added.

Modi said that an atmosphere of despair and dejection cloaked the country till 2014, with little motivation or hope among the country’s young. “People used to say ‘iss desh ka kuchh nahi ho sakta’ (nothing can happen in this country). Everyday, the newspapers were awash with news of scams, worth thousands of crores,” he said.

“My aim was to lift the country out of this mood of despair, bring its youth out of this sadness. Then, those who said iss desh ka kuchh nahi ho sakta, started saying ‘iss desh mein sab kuchh ho sakta hai’ (anything is possible in the country),” he added.

“Globally, India’s status has grown. People have seen our only aim is nation first. Our policies, our work and decisions have only one parameter: India first. We have continued with reforms. We have continuously worked with the mantra Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas and Sarv path Samabhav,” the PM said

In the 543-member House, the NDA has 293 members, as against 353 in 2019, with the BJP at 240, down from 303. The Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has 236 members, of which the Congress has 99.

Towards the end of his speech, Modi was informed about the deaths during a stampede in Hathras, and expressed regret over the tragic incident. “I express my condolences to those who lost their lives in this incident. I hope for the speedy recovery of all the injured,” he said.