Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday replied in the Rajya Sabha to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.
In his 90-minute speech which was punctuated by protests by some Opposition members at certain points, Modi also raised the pitch for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assemblies, asking all parties to consider the proposal, rising above political considerations as “everybody will face some difficulty” if it is implemented.
But it was Modi’s remark on former PM Manmohan Singh which raised the hackles of the Congress. “For almost 35 years, Manmohan Singh ji had a lot of influence on country’s economic policies.
A book has recently come out, but only the foreword was written by Manmohan Singh. There were so many scams under UPA rule, but no taint on Manmohan Singh,” the PM said.
Following this remark, Congress MPs walked out of the Rajya Sabha.
“The fight against corruption is not a fight against any political party. We can’t deny that our country is facing a problem. We can’t deny that our system has been affected and that is why we took up the fight against corruption,” Modi said addressing the Upper House.
“The poor in this country have been worst affected due to a parallel economy. I am not saying that older governments haven’t taken steps to tackle this problem, but we have to continue taking steps and will continue to take more steps. How long can we brush corruption under the carpet?” Modi questioned.
Modi said certain opponents had pointed out that banks were looted in Jammu and Kashmir, and Rs 2000 notes were found with terrorists. But, Modi added, the terrorists were killed later.
“Former bureaucrat Madhav Godbole in a book wrote that in 1971, then-PM Indira Gandhi was advised by the Finance Minister to demonetise, but she rejected the idea. You are showing so much zeal now. Why did you not sue Madhav Godbole?” Modi asked Congress leader Anand Sharma.
“Within 40 days, almost 700 Maoists have surrendered. This is a first in the history of India,” Modi said adding that some people in Parliament may not be happy with this.
Modi claimed that for the first time, there was a ‘horizontal divide’ in the Indian polity – the people had stood with the government – while the Opposition politicians had failed to judge their mood.
“You quote foreign economists. I can quote 10 of them on the fact that such an action (demonetisation) has never been taken anywhere in the world. The world’s economists have no parameters to assess demonetisation.
What India did will be a case study for economists worldwide,” the Prime Minister claimed in an attempt to fend off criticism that many eminent economists had panned demonetisation.
