In a 90-minute address in the Rajya Sabha, while participating in the debate over the President’s speech at the beginning of the budget session of Parliament, Modi repeatedly attacked the Congress and said it trampled on constitutional values and freedom of speech, lambasted the restrictions on fundamental rights during the Emergency, listed schemes for marginalised sections that his government had implemented, and said the Congress always disrespected India’s first law minister, BR Ambedkar.
He also said extreme opposition and pessimism was detrimental for Viksit Bharat (developed India; the Modi government has set a 2047 deadline for this) and added that people who remained aloof from the project to develop the country will be shunned by the people.
“A lot of things have been said about Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas…I fail to comprehend the difficulty; everyone has to be developed, everyone has to be on board, that’s why the country has given us the opportunity to sit here,” he said.
“But as far as the Congress is concerned, to expect Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas from them will be a big mistake. It is beyond their thoughts and it is not going to suit their roadmap also… because it is dedicated to a dynasty and one family,” he added.
The slogan shaped the core narrative of Modi’s 2014 elections campaign that saw him post the first single-party majority in a generation.
Modi also hit out at opponents of the Uniform Civil Code. “We are moving forward by taking inspiration from the framers of our Constitution. Some may wonder what this UCC is all about. But, after reading the debates of the Constituent Assembly, one would realise that it is in that same spirit,” he said. He said even the BJP government had the courage to take such decisions and was trying to implement UCC in the spirit of what the Constitution makers had envisioned.
His speech came days after BJP-ruled Uttarakhand became the first state to implement UCC and a second province ruled by the party, Gujarat, set up a committee to explore the issue. UCC refers to a common set of laws that will subsume customary laws across faiths and govern issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance, and is part of the troika of core ideological goals of the BJP.
Modi said the Congress repeatedly put one family first – a reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family – while the NDA government put nation first. “The Congress prepared a model of politics where fake promises, dynasty, and appeasement were all mixed together; there can be no question of sabka sath when all these things are there. In the Congress model, you will only find family first,” he said.
He said this scenario changed in 2014. “After 2014, we were given the opportunity to serve the nation and we presented an alternative model. We showed what work could be, what national priorities could be. We showed that we believed not in tushtikaran (appeasement) but santushtikaran (satisfaction). This is why we were chosen for a third consecutive term,” he said.
“Now that the nation is freed of the grasp of the Congress, it is breathing easy and flying high.”
Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, Modi hit out at the Congress over its apparent policy of appeasement. “ There was appeasement in everything. Give to a small section and make fake promises to the rest so that you can farm for votes during elections. We changed it and went for optimum utilisation and a saturation approach,” he said.
“The schemes should be delivered 100%, no one should be deprived and pushed towards hopelessness. In the past decade, at every level, we have tried to implement ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. We can now see the impact of bringing it to the ground,” he said.
He recalled the eccentricities of the licence-permit raj and said the entire Hindu community was blamed and its image tarnished across the world for the economic mismanagement and wrong policies of the Congress “royal family” that led to the “Hindu rate of growth” – a phrase often used to reference the anaemic economic growth of India before the economic liberalisation of 1991.
“The youth should remember the licence permit raj, when you needed a licence for buying a computer, a permit to build a house or even to have sugar at a wedding. A Congress finance minister had said no work could be done without a permit. A Congress MP’s father wanted a car and had to wait for 15 years. For a scooter, the wait was for 8-10 years. To sell the scooter, you needed permission. This is how they ran the country,” he said.
“All these restrictions made India among the world’s slowest growing economies. And what name was given? Hindu rate of growth. It was an insult to the community. Due to a failure of government, endless corruption and the royal family, one community was insulted in front of the whole world.”
Modi detailed the steps his government took for marginalised sections such as disabled people, transgender communities, women and small tribal groups. He also alleged that the Congress was trying to spread the poison of casteism in society, and contrasted it with his government’s approach when it implemented the 10% quota for economically weaker sections.
“There were a lot of efforts to spread tension and enmity. But when our government gave 10% reservation to EWS, it was done without any tension in society, without taking anything away from anyone. Everyone welcomed it,” he said. The EWS quota – for poor people in general sections – was introduced in 2019 through a constitutional amendment just months before general elections, as an additional 10% over and above existing provisions.
He also said the Congress had “hatred and anger” towards Ambedkar and said they were today shouting slogans of ‘Jai Bhim’ out of compulsion.
“It is well documented how much anger and hatred Congress had towards Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Due to this anger, they did everything to defeat Babasaheb in two elections. They did not consider Babasaheb worthy of the Bharat Ratna. Today, they are forced to shout the slogan of Jai Bhim,” he said.
He said successive Congress governments ignored Ambedkar’s advice and didn’t focus on industrialisation, a trend reversed only when the BJP won in 2014. “Ambedkar wanted to end the economic deprivation of SCs and STs. The Congress made it worse. Our government changed this thinking and focussed on skill development, financial inclusion, industrial growth..Modi worships those who are ignored by all,” he said.
Modi also accused the Congress of destabilising elected governments and said the reason for the current condition of the Congress was that it was more interested in impeding the progress of others.
Taking a swipe at Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders, Modi said those carrying copies of the Constitution in their pockets held scant respect for it and recalled how Jawaharlal Nehru amended the Constitution curtailing the freedom of speech even before India’s first general elections. “The word Constitution doesn’t suit their mouths,” he said.
Hours later, the Congress hit back, saying Modi kept “twisted” history but did not speak on real issues. “The prime minister’s capacity to divert, distort and defame is truly staggering. His 90-minute speech today in the Rajya Sabha was full of lies and half-truths. His pathological obsession with Jawaharlal Nehru was on full display. It was a pathetic performance unworthy of the office he holds,” said Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh on X.
