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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi again lit into Congress accusing it of being opposed to reservations and for keeping Dalit icon B R Ambedkar down, and mocked the party for sticking with Rahul Gandhi despite his repeated failures at the hustings.
In his last speech in Parliament before Lok Sabha elections, Modi mocked Congress’s recent embrace of the ‘caste’ plank for winning over OBCs by asserting that the country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed reservations, especially those in jobs, on the ground that they would promote inefficiency and lower standards.”I am quoting from Nehru’s letters to CMs,” the PM said, initiating an attack on Congress’s ‘social justice’ plank.
Picking up from where he had left off in Lok Sabha on Monday, Modi concentrated his attack solely on Congress as part of what may appear to be a gameplan to prop up Congress as BJP’s main rival in the 2024 Lok Sabha contest.
Modi took on Rahul’s statement lamenting the absence of OBCs at secretary-level ranks in govt. “Some have lately been professing concern as to why OBCs are not occupying senior positions in govt. Well, at the root of this is the attitude of Pandit Nehru. How could they reach higher stations if they were denied reservations all that long,” he said.
He stressed that Ambedkar could not get Bharat Ratna until it was conferred on him by a govt supported by BJP, because the top civilian decoration was given only to members of the “family”. He also recalled the unceremonious ouster of former Congress president Sitaram Kesri, who belonged to an extremely backward caste and was abruptly replaced to make way for Sonia Gandhi. “Sitaram Kesri, who was an EBC, was just dumped on the road,” Modi said.
It was a scorching assault, with Modi calling Congress a party which had run out of warranty and Rahul the “startup which has proved to be a non-starter”. He also recalled the now-deleted tweet of Gandhi family confidant Sam Pitroda where he had endorsed the view that Nehru had contributed more to the making of the Constitution. “One gentleman who lives abroad and has been the guide to the family recently tried to belittle Ambedkar. He is the same person who had a few years ago made headlines with his ‘hua to hua’ comment,” Modi said in a reference to Pitroda’s controversial comment which was widely interpreted as making light of the massacre of Sikhs in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Modi said leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was being denied autonomy in the House because of the presence of “special commandos”, seen as a reference to family loyalists in the upper House. He also referred to TMC boss Mamata Banerjee’s claim that Congress would not cross 40 seats in the next LS polls.
Modi, who, just like in Lok Sabha, oozed confidence about him getting a third term – people are calling it Modi 3.0, he said – outlined plans to make India a developed country and the third largest economy, twin themes of BJP’s plank for LS polls.
Modi promised to cover the entire nation with piped gas network, tap water in poor households, and no power bill through use of solar power. In Modi 3.0, the PM said, India will be extensively using artificial intelligence, nano-fertilisers, green technologies and natural farming.
In his last speech in Parliament before Lok Sabha elections, Modi mocked Congress’s recent embrace of the ‘caste’ plank for winning over OBCs by asserting that the country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed reservations, especially those in jobs, on the ground that they would promote inefficiency and lower standards.”I am quoting from Nehru’s letters to CMs,” the PM said, initiating an attack on Congress’s ‘social justice’ plank.
Picking up from where he had left off in Lok Sabha on Monday, Modi concentrated his attack solely on Congress as part of what may appear to be a gameplan to prop up Congress as BJP’s main rival in the 2024 Lok Sabha contest.
Modi took on Rahul’s statement lamenting the absence of OBCs at secretary-level ranks in govt. “Some have lately been professing concern as to why OBCs are not occupying senior positions in govt. Well, at the root of this is the attitude of Pandit Nehru. How could they reach higher stations if they were denied reservations all that long,” he said.
He stressed that Ambedkar could not get Bharat Ratna until it was conferred on him by a govt supported by BJP, because the top civilian decoration was given only to members of the “family”. He also recalled the unceremonious ouster of former Congress president Sitaram Kesri, who belonged to an extremely backward caste and was abruptly replaced to make way for Sonia Gandhi. “Sitaram Kesri, who was an EBC, was just dumped on the road,” Modi said.
It was a scorching assault, with Modi calling Congress a party which had run out of warranty and Rahul the “startup which has proved to be a non-starter”. He also recalled the now-deleted tweet of Gandhi family confidant Sam Pitroda where he had endorsed the view that Nehru had contributed more to the making of the Constitution. “One gentleman who lives abroad and has been the guide to the family recently tried to belittle Ambedkar. He is the same person who had a few years ago made headlines with his ‘hua to hua’ comment,” Modi said in a reference to Pitroda’s controversial comment which was widely interpreted as making light of the massacre of Sikhs in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Modi said leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was being denied autonomy in the House because of the presence of “special commandos”, seen as a reference to family loyalists in the upper House. He also referred to TMC boss Mamata Banerjee’s claim that Congress would not cross 40 seats in the next LS polls.
Modi, who, just like in Lok Sabha, oozed confidence about him getting a third term – people are calling it Modi 3.0, he said – outlined plans to make India a developed country and the third largest economy, twin themes of BJP’s plank for LS polls.
Modi promised to cover the entire nation with piped gas network, tap water in poor households, and no power bill through use of solar power. In Modi 3.0, the PM said, India will be extensively using artificial intelligence, nano-fertilisers, green technologies and natural farming.
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