Modi goes ballistic on Cong; pledges to redress grievances; no-trust motion defeated by 325 noes against 126 ayes
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s one-and-hour-long attack on the Opposition for bringing in the No-Confidence Motion against his Government without having numbers for the same, the BJP-led NDA defeated the no-trust motion with a resounding margin of 199 votes, with 126 members voting in favour of the motion and 325 against it. 451 MPs were present in the House amid walkout by the Shiv Sena, the BJD, the TRS.
In his speech, Modi accused the Congress of using the No-Confidence Motion as an attempt to create political instability in the country and said history showed that whenever the Congress was out of power, it adopted similar ploys.
He also took a dig at Rahul Gandhi for asking him to stand up for a hug after walking across to his chair in the lok Sabha, saying the Congress president appeared to be in a hurry to occupy his seat. “Only the electorate of the country can decide his fate and make him sit on his chair,” Modi said, asking “what is the hurry”.
Making gestures with his hands and eyes to show Gandhi’s “wink” in the house, Modi said it was clear in front of everyone what the Congress leader’s eyes did and the same was splashed across TV channels throughout the day.
Making light of the No-Confidence Motion, the PM said he hoped lord Shiva will give strength to Rahul Gandhi and Opposition parties to come back with a similar motion in 2024.
While the PM counted the achievement of his Government, including Ujjwala scheme, Ayushman scheme, rural electrification, crackdown on black money and shutting down of shell companies, he kept coming back to attack Rahul, referring him as “naamdaar” and ridiculing him as someone who indulged in “bachkani harkat”.
The PM hit back at Rahul for telling him (Modi) that he shied away from looking in the Congress president’s eyes. Modi said he was merely “kaamdaar,” who could not dare to look into the eyes of “naamdaar” and risk facing the consequences which leaders like Subhas Chandra Bose, Vallabh Bhai Patel, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Deve Gowda, Chandrashekar and even former president Pranab Mukherjee had faced when they dared to look into the eyes of the “naamdaars”.
The PM also did not spare Sonia Gandhi by citing her claim that the Opposition had numbers for the No-Confidence Motion. “In 1999, similar claim was made before the Rashtrapati Bhavan and then they brought down the Vajpayee Government by one vote in Parliament,” he said. “They can’t digest to be out of power,” he said.
The PM claimed that his Government had generated crore job during the last one year refuting Rahul’s claim that Modi’s claim of giving two crore jobs every year was a jumla. Hitting back at the Opposition parties, Modi said his Government was not doing politics of appeasement or vote-bank, but has been working with the philosophy of “sabka saath, sabka vikas”.
He said the NDA Government has done several things for the benefit of the people, but the Opposition does not believe in the facts. “We are taking steps for doubling the income of farmers by 2022,” he said.
Modi said the Opposition, especially the Congress does not trust the Chief Justice of India, the Election Commission and the electronic voting machines.
He said, “Those who don’t have confidence in themselves, cannot trust anyone.”
“I pray to God to give you the strength to bring a No-Confidence Motion in 2024 also. My best wishes are with you,” the Prime Minister said, taking a dig at the Opposition.
He also targeted the Congress saying the major Opposition party had brought the no-trust motion “to spread instability in the country”.
Referring to the Doklam stand-off, he said “when the whole country was united at the time of Doklam, you met the Chinese envoy,” Modi said in an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi.
On Gandhi’s allegations on the Rafale aircraft deal, he said, “We must abstain from making “bachkana” (childish) statements on sensitive issues.”
He also termed Rahul Gandhi’s description of the surgical strikes as ‘jumla strikes’ as an insult to the security forces.
Tearing into Rahul Gandhi’s comments that he was a ‘bhagidar’ (collaborator) and not a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman), Modi said he was in fact a partner in the aspirations of the people.
He said he was neither a ‘saudagar’ (trader), nor a ‘thekedar’ (contractor) like the Congress.
The Prime Minister said the Congress party had misused No-Confidence Motions to spread instability in the country to ensure that the Gandhi family remains in power.
“Had it not been your arrogance, and had you understood the problems of the States, GST would have been implemented five years ago,” the Prime Minister said.