Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday shrugged off his soft image and came down heavily on the BJP, calling it “ arrogant” and accusing it of hurling abuses at him and his Government. He warned the opposition party that it will face the fate of 2004 and 2009 in the next General Elections also.
Winding up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, the Prime Minister said that he would not reply to BJP in the “same language”, which the Opposition party used against him.
“A few days ago, a conclave of the National Council of BJP assembled in Delhi, the party used the choicest abuses for the Congress establishment and Congress leadership including myself. It is not my intention to reply them in that language because I do believe that our work and our performance are the best judges of what we have achieved,” Singh said. “Humko hai unse wafa ki umeed, jo nahi jaante hain wafa kya hai (We hope for loyalty from those that do not know the meaning of the word).”
Singh took pot shots at lK Advani, saying the BJP lost the 2004 polls after its ‘India Shining’ campaign and faced defeat again in 2009 when they pitted “iron man” against the “lamb that Manmohan Singh is.”
Advani was not present in the House during Prime Minister’s speech. Though BJP members objected, Singh continued with his written speech, and was cheered all the way by Congress MPs.
leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj twice stood and countered the Prime Minister saying in the world of poetry, there is a “debt” if a couplet is not responded to with a couplet. “Kuch toh majboorian rahee hongee, yun hee koi bewafa nahee hota.” (There must have been some compulsion, one is not disloyal for no reason at all).”
Then she added, “Tumhe wafa yaad nahee, Humein jafa yaad nahee, Zindagi or maut ke toh do hee tarane hain, ek tumhein yaad nahee, ek humein yaad naheen (You don’t remember loyalty, we don’t remember disloyalty, life and death have two rhythms, you don’t remember one, we don’t remember the other).”
However, Speaker Meira Kumar did not allow her to speak as Prime Minister did not yield.
“I am confident that the people will again elect us in the next elections based on our performance,” the Prime Minister said amidst heavy thumping of desks by the treasury benches.
“Jo garajte hain, woh baraste nahi (Thunderous clouds do not bring showers). We are not seeing the arrogance of BJP for the first time,” he said. Some BJP members were heard saying, “The Night watchman is batting well.”
At the end of the speech, before the motion was put to vote, BJP President Rajnath Singh, wondered about the reasons behind the aggressiveness of Prime Minister at the fag end of his career. “In the last nine years I have never seen so much attacking sentiment from the Prime Minister. I believe that before a flame goes out it burns brightest.” Rajnath said.
After attacking BJP, the PM spoke at length on various issues including his favourite subject economy, keeping India’s options open on the US resolution against Sri lanka at the UNHCR vote, ties with Pakistan and the situation in Maldives. “Our final decision on lanka will depend on the text of the resolution,” said Singh, adding that the government is monitoring the developments.
He expressed confidence that India’s economic slowdown will not persist and that the country will return to the growth rate of 7-8 per cent in next two years. Singh gave a comparative analysis of the performance of his government and the NDA regime to highlight that the country has progressed much better under UPA in all sectors, like agriculture and manufacturing.
Singh said while the current slowdown in industrial growth remained an area of concern, his government would continue to focus on inclusive growth.
The Prime Minister claimed in the UPA period, poverty declined at 2 per cent per annum, while in the preceding period the rate was no more than 0.8 per cent.
“Inequality is not increasing ... Even BIMARU states have also done much better in UPA period than previous periods,” Singh said, adding that the country has fared much better in areas of higher education, skill development and environment protection.