After his Lok Sabha address, PM Narendra Modi today (February 8) slammed the Congress once again, this time in Rajya Sabha and launched a scathing attack on the Grand Old Party of the country.
PM Modi attacked the Congress for its ‘greed for power’ and ‘throttling democracy’, and said that over the years, the Congress government at the Centre created problems for the state government and that this was true when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.
In his speech, PM Modi held the Congress responsible for the massacre of Sikhs in Punjab, keeping Goans waiting for 15 years to get liberated from the Portuguese, and humiliating the family of “Goa’s daughter”, legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.
The reference to Punjab and Goa came ahead of assembly elections in the two states.
The PM also claimed that Mahatma Gandhi wanted to disband the Congress because he knew what would happen if it continued in power, drawing huge uproar from the party leaders who walked out of the Rajya Sabha.
Moreover, the PM responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism that his government was attacking India’s federal structure, saying the Congress has attacked federalism in the country on numerous occasions in the past.
“Had Congress not been there, there would have been no massacre of Sikhs, Punjab wouldn’t have burnt in flames of terrorism for years, Kashmiri Pandits need not have left Kashmir,” Modi said in reply to the debate on Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to Parliament.
In the nearly 90-minute speech, Modi also blamed India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s government for its “wrong” policies that he alleged resulted in Portuguese control over Goa for 15 years after India got its independence.
“When satyagrahis were being shot in Goa, Nehru ji refused to send the Army to liberate Goa… He did not do it because he was concerned about his international image… He left the people of Goa helpless… Goans will never forget this,” Modi said.
The PM also spoke about “Goa’s daughter”, singer Lata Mangeshkar, who died two days ago, and how her family was mistreated during the Congress’ rule in Goa.
“People should know… Lata ji’s brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar was removed from All India Radio eight days after he recited some verses from a poem written by Veer Savarkar… This is the freedom of expression that the opposition talks about,” he said.
In the same vein, Modi said that legendary lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri was sent to jail in 1949 for criticising the former PM Jawaharlal Nehru.