New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today made a sharp attack on Congress party, claiming that its existence has threatened the democratic fibre of the country. In its menacing pounce the Prime Minister said that parties like Congress are following dynastic politics which has hurt the country, and replying to Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Union of states’ remark, suggested that Indian National Congress should be renamed “Federation of Congress”.
“Some members asked ‘if there was no Congress, what would happen?’ I would like to say, if there was no Congress there would be no Emergency, there would be no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened,” PM Modi said amid uproar from Congress members.
“India is the mother of democracy. Democracy, debate has been going on in India for centuries. Congress’ problem is that they never thought of anything apart from dynasty,” he said, continuing his tirade.
PM Modi said that India’s democracy faces the biggest threat of family-based parties, and the biggest loss any party faces due to this is that good talent goes away.
He said that under Congress gives lectures about federalism but when it was in power at the Centre, in those decades chief ministers were removed over “petty issues”. He then claimed that chief minister of Andhra Pradesh was sacked because the son of then prime minister did not like the arrangement at the airport. “Similarly, Karnataka’s popular chief minister Veerendra Patil was unceremoniously removed from the post, that too, when he was not in good health,” said PM Modi, adding that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) doesn’t work with such a narrow mindset.
The Prime Minister said he is not against progress of states, but regional aspirations should be in conflict with national progress.
“India’s progress will be stronger when it addresses regional aspirations keeping in mind the development of the country. When our states progress, the country progresses,” said PM Modi.
This is the Prime Minister’s second attack on opposition parties in two days. Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Monday, PM Modi didn’t pull any punches and blamed the Congress, the principal Opposition party, for not doing enough to help the poor or keep its promises. He also repeatedly invoked India’s civilisational unity and alleged that the Opposition was attempting to harm the country by pursuing the colonial goal of “divide and rule”.
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