PM Narendra Modi said the INDIA bloc is unable to digest the mandate given by 140 crore Indians to the NDA, even as the opposition parties staged a walkout from Rajya Sabha
In a veiled jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday posed a question to the Congress asking if the “happiness” after the Lok Sabha elections results was over a “hat-trick of losses” or “another unsuccessful launch”. He said the INDIA bloc is unable to digest the mandate given by 140 crore Indians to the NDA, even as the opposition parties staged a walkout from Rajya Sabha.
“Why is the Congress so happy? Is this the happiness of creating a hat-trick of losses or another unsuccessful launch?” he asked during his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address. As the Opposition walked out, he said: Opposition has been defeated; now they are shouting and running away,” adding, “the country is watching that those spreading lies don’t have courage to listen to truth.”
Amid heavy sloganeering by the opposition, the prime minister said India has rejected “bhram ki rajneeti”. He said the general election verdict showed people have rejected propaganda and voted for performance. He added that the politics of misleading people has been defeated.
Modi further said the verdict is to make India the world’s third largest economy from the current fifth, taking potshots at the Congress for its statement that the country was bound to grow irrespective of who was in power.
The INDIA bloc parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout after the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was not allowed to intervene during the PM’s speech. He wanted to intervene during Modi’s reply to a discussion on the motion thanking the President for her address to the joint sitting of Parliament.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, however, did not heed his requests, leading INDIA bloc MPs to raise slogans and asking for the LoP to be allowed to speak. Modi continued his speech amid the shouting and this went on for some time with Kharge repeatedly pleading to be allowed to speak.
When the permission did come through, INDIA bloc MPs staged a walkout of the House. Dhankhar condemned their act of walkout, saying this was an insult to the Constitution.
(With PTI inputs)
