Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Congress is a “parasite” that feeds off its allies and mocked Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for his “juvenile behaviour”.
Replying to motion of thanks on the President’s address in Lok Sabha, Modi said, “After 2024 elections, Congress will be termed a parasite. It won 99 seats by living off the vote share of its allies. A parasite feeds on the body it inhabits and, similarly, Congress consumes the votes of its allies. It flourishes at the expense of its partners.” He said 2024 was the third consecutive defeat of Congress when it failed to breach the 100 mark. “But they are busy doing ‘Sheershasana’ (headstand) and trying to establish in the minds of people that they have defeated us… This is like trying to pacify a child.”
Modi’s 135-minute address was peppered with analogies from Sholay and comparisons with errant children and indulgent parents. Although Gandhi’s remarks on Hinduism had been expunged by the Speaker, Modi hit out at him and said the people of India will not forgive him. “It was said that Hindus are violent. Are these your values? Is this your character? Is this your hatred for Hindus of this country? This country will not forget this for centuries. These are people who tried to coin the phrase Hindu terror. Their allies compare Hinduism with dengue, malaria, etc, and these people clap. Their entire ecosystem wants to look down upon, abuse and insult Hinduism. After the scenes yesterday, Hindus have to think – is this insult a coincidence or part of a design,” he said.
“Wherever there was a direct contest between BJP and Congress, or where Congress was the major party and its allies had only 2-3 seats, Congress’ strike rate was 26%. However, in regions where Congress was the junior partner and clung to others, its strike rate was 50 per cent.”
The PM’s entire speech was drowned out by constant sloganeering by the Opposition members who shouted, “justice for Manipur”.
“In 16 states where Congress contested alone, its vote share dropped in this election. In Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where Congress fought independently, they managed to win only 2 out of 64 seats,” he said.
Modi said, “This is the nation’s bad luck that Congress, which ruled for six decades, is busy spreading anarchy. They go to south and speak against people of north; they speak against south when they go to north. They have made all possible attempts to create a divide on the basis of language. The leaders who advocated separation of a part of the country were given a Parliament ticket by Congress.”
Modi compared Gandhi to an errant child who was trying to get sympathy of his mother without furnishing full facts about his transgressions in school. “One day a child came back crying from school and he told his mother he was beaten up. The mother got worried and the child refused to give any details to her. He kept saying he was beaten up. What he did not tell his mother was that he had abused someone, he had torn a child’s copy, stolen another child’s tiffin. This is exactly what was happening in the House yesterday – the child was weeping here that he had been targeted and was trying to garner sympathy. But people know the truth – the truth is that he is out on bail in a case involving crores of rupees, he has received punishment for calling OBC community ‘chor’ and a case has been filed against him for defaming Veer Savarkar,” Modi said.
The PM used his address to straighten out some facts on Agnipath scheme and provision of minimum support price. He said that his government was taking all steps to make the NEET system clear of discrepancies.
