'Congress is a parasitic party': PM Modi takes a dig at Oppn in Lok Sabha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha on Tuesday. ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday came down heavily on the Congress and termed it a parasitic party as it feeds of the parties it allies with and depends on them for its survival.

He said 2024 elections were Congress' third defeat in its history and it would have been better had it accepted its defeat and respected the mandate of the people.

"This is the third biggest defeat in the history of Congress. It would have been better if Congress had accepted its defeat and respected the mandate of the people but they are busy doing some 'Sirsasana' and Congress and its ecosystem are trying to establish in the minds of the citizens of India that they have defeated us...Bachhe ka mann behlane ka kaam chal raha hai," said PM Modi while replying to the Motion of Thanks on the president's address.

In an indirect dig at the INDIA bloc, the Prime Minister said that the public chose the BJP-led NDA in the world's largest election and he understands the pain of those who suffered a huge defeat.

"Despite spreading lies continuously, they suffered a huge defeat," added PM Modi.

The PM attributed his election win to the zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and rejecting the politics of appeasement, which the country has seen for a long time.

"...The country has blessed us for our zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. Today India's credibility has increased across the world...The sole aim of our every policy, every decision, every action has been India first," said the Prime Minister, adding, "Hum tushtikaran nahi santushtikaran ke vichaar ko lekar chalein hai'...."

He assured the countrymen that his government have taken the resolution of Viksit Bharat which it will fulfill with full dedication and honesty.

"...I assure the countrymen that we have taken the resolution of Viksit Bharat and we will make efforts to fulfil that resolution and we will do it with full dedication and honesty. We will spend every moment of our time to fulfil this resolution...," said PM Modi.

Recalling the days of 2014 when his government had taken over, he said that the people of our country had lost their self-confidence and the country had drowned in the abyss of despair.

"...At such a time, before 2014, the biggest loss that the country had suffered was the loss of self-confidence of the countrymen and when trust and self-confidence are lost, it becomes difficult for the person, the society, the country to stand up. For some time, it used to come out from the mouth of a common man that 'nothing can happen to this country'. These words of frustration of Indians had become a kind of identity. For some time, when we used to open the newspaper every day, we used to read only news of scams...," added the PM.

"...There was a period of scams when it was shamelessly accepted publicly that if 1 rupee is sent from Delhi, only 15 paise reaches. In 1 rupee, there is a scam of 85 paise. This world of scams had drowned the country in the depths of despair. There was policy paralysis, we were in the fragile 5...If a poor person wants to buy a house, he had to give bribe of thousands of rupees. For gas connection, people had to make rounds to the MPs and even then they did not get a gas connection...," he added.

He said there was a time before 2014 when terrorists used to attack at will and kill innocent people, but the government of the time used to sit quietly.

"Innocent people were killed, every corner of India was targeted and the governments used to sit quietly. 2014 ke baad ka Hindustan ghar mein ghus kar maarta hain...," he said.

PM Modi said his government managed to pull 25 crore people out of poverty in 10 years.

"This feat proved to be a blessing," he said.

Talking about his goal in his third term, he said the government will increase its pace of work by three times and put in three times the energy.

"Our third term means we will give three times the results to the people of the country," he said.

He was also all praise for the first-time parliamentarians, saying that not only did these inexperienced MPs made the debate on president's address more valuable with their views but they also followed all the rules, thereby enhancing the dignity of the House.

"Yesterday and today, several MPs have expressed their views on the president's address, especially those who have come among us for the first time as Parliamentarians. They followed all the rules of the Parliament and their behaviour was like that of an experienced Parliamentarian."

He added, "Despite being the first timers, they have enhanced the dignity of the House and have made this debate more valuable with their views..."

With inputs from agencies