PM likens Congress to death

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, March 10, 2016, DHNS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday metaphorically compared Congress to death in his sardonic attempt to take a dig at the lead opposition party, which he felt was “blessed” and “never gets blamed for anything” like demise.

Only the reason leading to bereavement is blamed; similarly criticism of Congress is reported as attack on the Opposition, Modi commented in his reply to the motion of thanks to President’s address in Parliament, inviting laughter in Rajya Sabha.

Modi said his government has to sweat to put things in order, having inherited the legacy of Congress misgovernance. He quoted Urdu poet Nida Fazli’s line, “Safar me dhoop to hogi..” (the journey will be sultry), to challenge the opposition party to walk the talk as he himself does.

"Death has a blessing. It never gets blamed for anything. If somebody dies, the blame goes to reasons like cancer, age.. Death itself is never blamed or defamed. Sometimes I feel that the Congress has this blessing. If we criticise the  Congress, the media terms it as ’attack on opposition’ but not an attack on Congress. However, if we attack (JD-U leader) Sharadji (Yadav) or BSP, then it is called an attack on JD-U or BSP. Congress never gets the blame...It needs to be pondered upon as this is in itself a big science," he said.

The PM was not as stinging in his criticism of Congress while replying earlier to the motion of thanks to the President’s address in Lok Sabha. As in the Lower House, he appealed to members of the Upper House where the government is in a minority, to allow passage of legislation crucial to  boost fiscal health.

Performance report

He rebutted criticism by Congress leaders of his government’s policies by detailing schemes and initiatives, which read like NDA government’s performance report ahead of elections in five states.

Picking on Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad for referring to loopholes in Jan Dhan Yojana, Modi appreciated his effort but not before mocking at the fault finding exercise in Bhopal. "Had you worked so hard while in government, there would have been no need for Modi to do Jan Dhan. You are looking at my work through a microscope. Had you used a binocular and critiqued your own initiatives while you were in power, then it would have been better," he remarked in a lighter vein.