Undemocratic attempt made to throttle voice of PM: Modi slams opposition

New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) Asserting that Parliament is not for ‘dal’ but for ‘desh’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at the opposition, saying that some parties have practised “negative politics” and “misused” Parliament to hide their political failures.

Speaking with the media ahead of the start of Parliament session, Modi said the Union Budget, which will be presented on Tuesday, will set the direction for the journey of the next five years and lay the foundation for fulfilling the dream of ‘Viksit Bharat’ in 2047.

Modi said people have given their verdict in the Lok Sabha polls and now all political parties must fight together for the country for the next five years.

“I want to tell all MPs, they may be of any party, that from January onwards we fought a pitched electoral battle, we conveyed to the people what we wanted to convey, some showed the way while others misled, but that period is over now. The people have given their verdict,” he said.

“Now it is the responsibility of all elected representatives and that of all political parties that we have fought for our respective parties and now for the next five years, we have to fight for the country and strive for it,” Modi said.

The prime minister urged political parties to rise above party lines and make use of the platform of Parliament for the next four to four-and-a-half years.

“In January, 2029, when it will be an election year, then you can go into the poll field, even make use of Parliament for it. Play the games you want to for those six months but till then, work for empowering the poor, farmers, youth and women by building a movement of people’s participation to fulfil the dream of 2047,” Modi said.

“I say with a lot of sadness that after 2014, some MPs were elected for 5 years, some for 10 years, but many MPs did not get a chance to talk about their constituency and share their views in Parliament because of the negative politics of some parties that misused Parliament to hide their political failures,” he said.

Modi urged all parties to give a chance to first-time MPs to speak in Parliament and give opportunities to them.

“You would have seen that in the first session of this Lok Sabha. An undemocratic attempt was made to throttle the voice of the government that had been ordered by 140 crore Indians to serve. For two-and-a-half hours, attempts were made to scuttle the voice of the prime minister and such a thing has no place in democratic traditions. They have no remorse over it,” Modi said.

His remarks were an apparent reference to the incident in the last session when Modi delivered his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address amid vociferous protests and sloganeering by the opposition that was demanding that both MPs from Manipur be allowed to speak.

“People have sent us here for desh not dal. This Parliament is not for ‘dal (party)’ but for ‘desh (country)’ This Parliament is not limited to MPs but it is for 140 crore people of the country,” he asserted.

Modi hoped that all MPs will contribute to the debate.

He said there was nothing wrong with opposing views but it was the negative views that are wrong.The country does not need negativity, he said.

“We have to take the country forward with the ideology of development and progress,” Modi said.

He also said that the Monsoon session is an important destination in our democracy’s proud journey.

“It is a matter of immense pride for me personally as well as for all of our colleagues that after nearly 60 years a government has come back for the third time and has got the privilege of presenting the first budget of the third term. The country is seeing this as a very proud event in the glorious journey of Indian democracy,” he said.

Modi said his government is moving forward to implement on the ground the guarantees he has given to the people.

“We are moving ahead with the aim of gradually realising the guarantees that I have been giving to the people of the country. This budget is an important budget of Amrit Kaal. We have got an opportunity of five years and this budget will determine the direction of our work for those five years and also lay a strong foundation for fulfilling our dream of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ in 2047, when we will celebrate 100 years of independence,” he said.

He highlighted that India is the fastest growing country among the major economies with about eight percent growth in the last three consecutive years.

Today, opportunities are at the peak due to positive outlook, investment and performance, he said.

The prime minister expressed the belief that all members of Parliament will contribute towards fruitful discussions.

Modi also expressed confidence that this temple of democracy will be used to fulfil the dreams and aspirations of the common citizens.