New Delhi The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win at least 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross the 400 mark, Prime Minister Narendra Modi predicted on Monday as he launched a blistering attack at the Opposition and hailed the achievements of his government just months before elections.
In a combative speech in Parliament that spanned two hours, Modi drew a critical distinction between dynastic politics and second- or third-generation politicians, as he singled out the Congress for stinging criticism, accusing it of slow-peddling development, citing comments by former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi to allege that they held fellow Indians in low esteem, and accusing it of suffering from a culture that sought to “cancel” the nation’s progress.
He hailed the steps taken by his government to promote women’s development, purge corruption, rein in inflation, improve delivery of welfare benefits, quell violence, promote nation-building and boost the economy, saying that the steps taken in his third term will lay the foundation of the country for another 1,000 years.
“I can gauge the mood of the nation, it will definitely give NDA more than 400 seats and the BJP at least 370 seats,” the PM said, citing the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, a long-held ideological goal of the BJP.
{{/usCountry}}“I can gauge the mood of the nation, it will definitely give NDA more than 400 seats and the BJP at least 370 seats,” the PM said, citing the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, a long-held ideological goal of the BJP.
{{/usCountry}}In what was his last speech in the Lower House before the elections, Modi said the third term of his government was not too far and said it was his guarantee that India will become the third largest economy in the next five years. “In the first term, we kept filling the potholes of the previous governments, in the second term we laid the foundation of a new India, in the third term we will accelerate the development of Viksit Bharat (developed India)...the third term will be one of big decisions.”
He listed the schemes and achievements of the government over the last 10 years, including Swachh Bharat, Ujjwala, Ayushman Bharat, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, the abrogation of abolition of Article 370, the passage of the women’s reservation bill, the adoption of the Bhartiya Nyay Samhita replacing the Indian Penal Code and the repealing of more than 40,000 obsolete laws. “From North to South, from East to West, people have seen the pending projects being completed in a timely manner…(the new) Ram temple in Ayodhya will continue to give energy to the great culture and tradition of India.”
Modi was replying to the debate in Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address. He tore into the Opposition, and singled out the Congress and its shahi (royal) mindset for the condition of the Opposition.
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“For several decades you were sitting here (in the treasury benches), but now you have resolved to stay there (opposition benches) for several decades.The people will bless you and keep you there. You will achieve greater heights and will be soon seen in the public galleries (of the House),” the PM said.
The remarks came mere weeks before the general elections are scheduled to be announced; Modi will seek a historic third consecutive term and if successful, will become the only PM apart from Nehru to achieve this.
In his speech, which met with loud protests from Opposition members, Modi differentiated between dynasty politics and several members of one family joining politics, pointing out that senior ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh sitting next to him, didn’t have their own parties.
“Dynasty politics hurts democracy…Which dynastic politics do we talk about? If more than one person in a family, on their own strength and with the support of the public, makes progress in the political field, we have never called it dynastic politics. In fact, we want more people to join politics. But we call it dynastic politics when a party is run by a family, when the party prioritises members of a family, when family members take all the important decisions of the party,” he said.
Accusing the Congress of opposing all development schemes, Modi said the party was trapped in cancel culture as it sought to cancel every achievement and success of the country.
“Congress has developed cancel culture -- we say Make in India, Congress says cancel; we say Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Congress says cancel; we say Vocal For Local, Congress says cancel, we say Vande Bharat trains, Congress says cancel; we say new Parliament building, Congress says cancel. I am surprised because these are not Modi’s achievements, these are the achievements of the country,” PM Modi said.
He appeared to single out Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is currently on a 6,600km tour of the country that will end on March 20.
“In the Congress, there are many talented people but the party did not let them stand. I always wanted the country to have a good Opposition. We can see the situation of Adhir Babu (Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury) . The situation is that (Congress President Mallikarjun) Kharge has shifted from this House to that House (Rajya Sabha), and Ghulam Nabi Azad has shifted out of the party. They all became the victims of parivarwad (dynasty politics). Efforts to launch the same product again and again have almost shut the Congress’s shop,” he said.
Modi said that the Congress was invested in one family and never trusted India’s potential. Quoting an Independence Day speech by Nehru from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi said, “Nehru had said Indians don’t usually work hard and that we do not work as hard as the Europeans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians or the Americans.”
“He (Nehru) is giving a certificate to those people to belittle Indians. This shows that Nehru ji’s thinking about Indians was that they are lazy and not smart. He did not trust their potential,” the PM said.
Former PM Indira Gandhi did not think differently either, Modi added.
“Indira ji had said from Red Fort, ‘Unfortunately, it is our habit that when a good work is approaching completion, we become complacent. And when an obstacle nears, we lose hope. Sometimes it seems the whole nation has accepted defeat’. Looking at Congress people today, it appears that Indira ji may not have been able to assess the people of the country correctly, but spoke correctly about the party.”
He also hit out at the 27-party Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), already riven by Nitish Kumar’s shift to the NDA and announcements by Mamata Banerjee and Bhagwant Mann to go it alone in West Bengal and Punjab.
“The Congress people have recently learnt the work of a motor mechanic, so they’ll know what an alignment is. But I am seeing that the alignment of this alliance is broken. If people in this group don’t trust each other, how will the people of the country believe them?”
His reference was likely to Gandhi’s visit to a workshop of motorcycle mechanics last year.
The PM took sharp aim at what he called the relaxed pace of previous Congress-run governments, saying the slow growth hurt the country and robbed it of decades of development.
“It (Congress) is unable to see the aspirations and achievements of crores of families of the country, it is not ready to see it…”No one can match the slow pace of the grand old party.”
Modi contrasted this with the pace of development set by his administration – 250 million people pulled out of multi-dimensional poverty, 500 million poor people with bank accounts, 40 million with houses, 110 million with tapped water connections, 550 million with Ayushman Bharat cards and 800 million with free food grains. “If things had progressed at the Congress’s pace, it would have taken 100 years. Five generations would have been over.”
He said that the Congress would have taken 100 years to match the NDA’s housing target, 80 for the railway track electrification target, 60 for the gas connection target, and 60-70 for the sanitation coverage target.
Modi also underlined the recent Bharat Ratna given to Bihar stalwart Karpoori Thakur and said that the former chief minister was disrespected by previous governments.
“Congress party and UPA government did not do justice with OBCs. A few days ago, Karpoori Thakur ji was conferred with Bharat Ratna. In 1970, when he became Bihar CM, what not was done to destabilise his government.” he said, referring to Thakur’s pioneering work on other backward classes (OBC) reservation.
“Congress can’t tolerate OBCs...They keep counting how many OBCs are there in the government…Can’t you (Congress) see the biggest OBC here?” he added, referring to the Congress’s oft-repeated demand of a nationwide caste census and his own OBC status.
Modi said that the budget session was a good opportunity for constructive suggestions, but the Opposition left the country disillusioned. “The Congress had a good opportunity to play a good Opposition but failed in that role. There are other young people in the Opposition, but they were not allowed to speak out of fear that it may overshadow a particular person,” Modi said in another apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi.
Modi drew attention to the interim budget in 2014 by the then Congress-led government and pointed out that India was the 11th largest economy at the time, and now is fifth. “Today, I assure the nation that India will become the 3rd largest economy in our government’s third term.”
The PM also touched upon price rise and said that while Congress-led governments were not sensitive to the pains of the poor, his administration had reined in galloping prices despite two global conflicts and the pandemic. He mentioned a two-fold increase in cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, seizures by the Enforcement Directorate increasing from ₹5,000 crores in XXX to ₹1 lakh crores now. “All seized funds were used for the welfare of the poor”, he added.
At a time when opposition parties are accusing the government of using federal agencies to stymie dissent, the PM pledged to fight corruption to the very end . “Those who looted the nation will have to pay back.”
The Opposition hit back, saying this was Modi’s last speech as prime minister.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said “Modi cannot sleep without mentioning the Congress party”.
“He spoke about nepotism. Our leaders have sacrificed their lives for the country,” he said.
“I want to ask Modi ji - who from your party or your political descendants have sacrificed their lives for the freedom, unity and integrity of the country,” Kharge asked in a post on X.