Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said he and his colleagues were proud of the RSS and its devotion to the nation.
Naidu was responding to leader of Congress Maallikarjun Kharge’s observation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was under influence of RSS and it was not suitable to the post of Prime Minister.
Responding to Kharge’s charge that eight Government schemes are named after Prime Minister, Naidu said the Prime Minister is an institution and that one of the books had mentioned that 618 schemes in the country were named after one family.
Refuting the charge that Prime Minister is interfering with the functioning of ministers, he said as head of the government he has the right to advise his ministers. He said unlike the last Government “where the Prime Minister presides and ‘Madam’ decides, (Now) Prime Minister presides and decides”.
He said Modi will not run the country for another 25 years but the institution of Prime Minister will be there. “The people of India gave mandate to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said adding Opposition should not obstruct functioning of Parliament or derail the bills.
“Problem with Congress leaders is that they still could not adjust with the verdict of the people and can’t think of going ahead without power,” said Naidu. He said because of the steps taken by the NDA government, India, according to IMF chief, is now among the few bright spots in global economy and is an island of hope.
Naidu said India’s reputation in the world has been going up after Modi visited 32 countries in a short period of time. “The Prime Minister will also take up the issue of supply of F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan. Has Congress President spoken to Obama on this issueIJ We know what to do on international issues. Please don’t give lecture to us”, Naidu said.
He was responding to the questions by opposition as to why Modi has not taken up the issue of F-16 fighter planes with US President Barack Obama even though he talks to him. Naidu said India is growing faster than China and has improved its ranking by 12 points in the ease of doing business.
Naidu further said the economy has shown significant improvement with inflation coming down, fiscal and current account deficit under control and government announcing host of schemes for the welfare of poor.