Kumar Bahukhandi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament in New Delhi on February 6, 2025. _| Photo Credit PTI
PM Modi in Rajya Sabha: PM Modi said that this is beyond his thinking and understanding and does not fit in the roadmap as well. Such a big party has become dedicated to one family. This is not possible for them.
Responding to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the President has discussed in detail and has also shown the country the way forward. The President’s address was effective and was also a guideline for all of us on future work. Whoever understood it, interpreted it in the way he understood it. A lot was said here on Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. What is the difficulty in this? This is the responsibility of all of us. As far as the Congress is concerned, it would be a big mistake to expect anything from them for this.
‘Family First has been paramount in the Congress model’
PM Modi said that this is beyond their thinking, understanding and does not suit the roadmap either. Such a big party has become dedicated to one family. This is not possible for them. Family First has been paramount in the Congress model. The people of the country have given us a chance to serve for the third consecutive time. This shows that the people of the country have tested, understood and supported our development model. If I have to describe our model in one word, I would say – Nation First. PM Modi said that with this great feeling, we have tried to serve by considering this one thing as a criterion in our speech, behavior and policies.
‘We gave the model of satisfaction, not appeasement’
PM Modi said that for a long time the country did not get any opportunity to weigh on the scale what should be the alternative model? In 2014, we gave the country an alternative model. The public accepted our model. We have given the model of satisfaction, not appeasement. Congress’s way was to give something to the small section when the elections came and see the rest yearning for it.
PM Modi launched a strong attack on the Congress and said that, distributing rattles, blindfolding the people and running their politics. Their eyes were on the cultivation of votes. Our effort has been to make optimal use of whatever resources India has. The time that is available should also be saved from wastage and every moment should be used for public welfare, for the progress of the country.
PM Modi said that, by strengthening the SC-ST Act, our government has shown respect and also commitment towards the Dalit-tribal society. Today, a lot of effort is being made to spread the poison of casteism.
PM Modi on reservation
PM Modi said that today a lot of effort is being made to spread the poison of casteism. But for three decades, OBC MPs of both the houses and OBC MPs of all parties had been demanding from the government that the OBC commission be given constitutional status, but it was rejected. It was denied because perhaps it did not suit their politics at that time. All of us together gave constitutional status to this commission, which my OBC community had demanded for three decades.
PM Modi said that their honour and respect is equally important for us. Whenever the subject of reservation came up in the country, no attempt was made to do it in a healthy way by accepting the truth. Methods that created animosity were adopted. For the first time, our government gave such a model that we gave 10 percent reservation to the poor of the general category, without tension, without snatching from anyone. SC-ST, OBC also welcomed it. The whole nation accepted this.
Congress’s allies are leaving and running away – PM Modi
PM Modi said that there is evidence of how much hatred and anger Congress had towards Baba Saheb. What all was not said to defeat Baba Saheb in elections twice. Baba Saheb was never considered worthy of Bharat Ratna. People of this country respected Baba Saheb’s sentiments, the entire society did. But today Congress is forced to say Jai Bhim. Their mouth dries up when they say Jai Bhim. This Congress also seems to be very adept at changing colours. It is clearly visible how quickly they change their mask.
PM Modi said that if we study Congress now, then its politics is like our basic mantra Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, similarly theirs has been to shorten the lines of others. Due to this, they destabilized governments, if any political party formed a government anywhere, they destabilized it. They kept doing this work. This is the result of their policies that today Congress has become like this. PM Modi said that those who were with Congress after Lok Sabha are also running away. This is the result of the Congress party’s condition today. The oldest party of the country, the party associated with the freedom movement, is in such a bad state. If they had not worked hard to extend their line, then they would not have been in such a bad state. I give you my unsolicited advice, if you work hard to extend your line, then someday the country will give you an opportunity to come here 10 meters away.
We have fulfilled Baba Saheb’s dream through Mudra Yojana – PM Modi
PM Modi said that, we have empowered every community and fulfilled Baba Saheb’s dream through Mudra Yojana. Modi worships the one whom no one asked. Welfare of the poor and deprived is our priority. In this year’s budget also, we have touched small sectors like leather, footwear industry, the benefits of which will be received by the poor and deprived society. Talking about toys, only such people are in this work. Many people were helped in this work and the result is that we were stuck in the habit of importing it, today we are exporting three times more. The poor people are getting the benefit of this. We created a separate ministry for fishermen and also provided all the benefits of KCC. Fish production has increased.
‘Congress crushed freedom of speech’
Congress had trampled on their sentiments immediately after independence. When there was no elected government in the country, the gentlemen who were in power amended the constitution as soon as they came to power. They did not even wait for the elected government to come to power. They crushed freedom of speech. They imposed restrictions on newspapers and kept roaming around the world with the tag of democrats. This was a complete disrespect to the spirit of the constitution. Nehru ji was the prime minister, it was the first government and a workers’ strike took place in Mumbai. Majrooh Sultanpuri had sung a poem in it, ‘Commonwealth ka Das Hai’, for this Nehru ji sent him to jail. Balraj Sahni had participated in a procession, he was put in jail. Lata Mangeshkar’s brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar was stopped from broadcasting a poem on Veer Savarkar on All India Radio, he was thrown out of the radio. The country has also seen the period of emergency. When Dev Anand did not support the emergency, his films were banned.
PM Modi took a jibe at Leader of Opposition Kharge
Taking a jibe at Leader of Opposition Kharge, PM Modi said that Honorable Kharge ji keeps reciting couplets in front of you and Chairman ji, you also keep enjoying it a lot. I had also read a couplet somewhere that Kharge ji was reciting poems and whatever he was saying, you also asked him to tell me. Kharge ji must have thought that he cannot speak there, this is a good platform, he should speak here. Today I want to recite some lines of Neeraj ji to Kharge ji. It was the period of Congress government, at that time Neeraj ji had written these poems. Neeraj had said ‘It is very dark, now the sun should rise…’ We have been successful in bringing 25 crore people out of poverty. In 1970, when Congress was ruling, a collection of poems by Neeraj ji was published – Phir Deep Jalega. In it, he had said that my country should not be sad, the lamp will be lit again, the darkness will fade. Our inspirational man Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji had also said – Lotus will bloom.
Contribution of women cannot be denied: Prime Minister Modi
Prime Minister Modi said, no one can deny the contribution of women power in India’s development journey. But if they get opportunities and become a part of policy making, then the progress of the country can gain more speed. Keeping this in mind, the first decision of this House was taken, we countrymen can be proud, this new House will be remembered for the fact that this new House will not be remembered only for its appearance, but its first decision was – Nari Shakti Vandan.
‘Income up to 12 lakhs made tax free’
PM Modi said that we have exempted a large section of the population from tax and exempted income up to Rs. 12 lakh from tax. Unconditional benefits were given to those above 70 years of age under Ayushman Yojana. Today, the world’s attraction towards the elderly in India has increased. The elderly from the middle class are getting the most benefits. We have acquired a new middle class. Our new middle class and the aspirations of the middle class will accelerate the country’s progress. We have made a large part of the tax for the middle class zero in this budget.
PM Modi said that we have built four crore houses for the poor, out of which more than one crore houses have been built in cities. The world has also seen the revolution of startups. Most of the youth running these startups are from the middle class. Today, the whole world is attracted towards India. Especially the G20 meeting was held at 50-60 places, after which the world’s attraction towards India’s tourism has increased. The PM said, after a gap of three decades, we have brought the new education policy. Today, 10-12 thousand PM Shri schools have been built. India is making its mark in the field of sports- PM
Earlier there were 14 lakh cadets, today that number has crossed 20 lakh. It is clearly visible that the youth in the country have the intention to do something beyond the routine. Some are doing something for education by going to slums, while some are running a campaign for cleanliness. We have started the My Bharat Abhiyan. More than 1.5 crore youth have registered in it. We have started working on many dimensions to strengthen sports talent. We have provided unprecedented help. Target Olympic Podium Scheme and ‘Khelo India’ campaign are strengthening our sports ecosystem. In all the competitions that have been held in the last 10 years, India has made its mark, made its mark.
PM Modi said- stalling, hanging, misleading had become a culture during the Congress era
PM Modi said that we also completed the pending projects of Congress. We completed the Saryu Canal Project made in 1972 in 2021. Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur-Srinagar Baramulla rail line was approved in 1994. We completed it in 2025. Odisha’s Haridaspur Paradip rail line was approved in 1996 and was completed in 2019 during our tenure. Assam’s Bogibeel Bridge was approved in 1998 and was also completed by our government in 2018. I can give hundreds of such examples. You can imagine how much Congress has wasted during its tenure by not making progress that the country deserved.
India had to wait for years for vaccines for its diseases – PM
The PM said that it is important for today’s youth to know why their parents had to spend their lives in trouble, why the country is in such a condition. If we had not been pro-active for Digital India in the last decade, we would have had to wait for many years for facilities like today. Today, the fastest rollout of 5G technology in the world has taken place in our country. Technologies like computers and mobile phones had arrived in many countries of the world long ago, but it took decades for them to reach India. If I talk about diseases, smallpox and BCG vaccines were available in many countries when we were slaves, but they came to India decades later. We had to wait for decades for the polio vaccine as well.
PM Modi spoke on license raj
PM Modi targeted the license raj of the Congress era and said that, in those days, license permit raj was such a crime that the country could not develop. This had become the identity of Congress. It was the initial phase of computers, so even to import it, license had to be taken and it used to take years. If cement was needed to build a house, then permission was needed for that too. Even if sugar was needed for weddings, license had to be taken. I am talking about independent India. The former finance minister of Congress, who considers himself very knowledgeable, had admitted that no work is done without license permit. All work goes through it, it does not happen without bribe. In those days, bribe meant who used to do the sleight of hand, who was the paw. The youth of the country understands very well where the money used to go. There is a Congress member present in this house, his father wanted to buy a car with his own money, he had to wait for 15 years. We all know that it used to take 8-10 years to buy a scooter. These policies of Congress slowed down the pace of development, it was called Hindu rate of growth in the world. PM said, because of Congress, a community was abused. Had to face infamy all over the world.
We are promoting Make in India – PM
PM Modi said that we are promoting Make in India by coming out of the license raj and its evil practices of Congress. Our government started the PLI scheme to increase manufacturing, made reforms related to FDI, India has become the second largest mobile producer. We are exporting mobile phones all over the world. Solar and module manufacturing has also increased 10 times in India. India is the second largest steel producing country in the world. Export of toys has increased three times in 10 years. During the Corona period, we sent medicines and vaccines to more than 150 countries. Export of herbal products has also increased. The turnover of Khadi and Village Industry has exceeded one and a half lakh crores for the first time. Its production has also quadrupled in 10 years.
PM Modi said that we are all representatives of the people, servants of the people. For a public representative, the mission of the country and society is everything. The country expects from all of us that we should not leave any stone unturned to assimilate developed India. This is the resolution of the country. Those who keep themselves away from the resolution of developed India, the country will keep them away. Everyone will have to join. You cannot keep yourself away. The youth of the country has started walking on this path. When the country has started walking on the path of progress, then the responsibility of all of us has increased.
