Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attacked Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress while responding in Lok Sabha to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address.
PM Modi targeted Rahul Gandhi over his reaction to the speech by President Droupadi Murmu, saying that people who have "photo sessions in the huts of the poor" will find the President's address "boring".
PM Modi began his speech by thanking the President and said it was his 14th reply to the Motion of Thanks in Lok Sabha, adding that he feels fortunate that there was a place of a democratic debate in India.
I am very fortunate that the people of the country have given me the opportunity for the 14th time to reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address. So, I respectfully express gratitude to the people," PM Modi said.
Taking a veiled dig at AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, PM Modi said BJP-led government used funds to build the nation, not 'sheeshmahal'.
Here are the crème de la crème of quotes by PM Modi in his speech:
"These who take photo sessions in huts of poor, for their entertainment, will find mention of poor in Parliament boring."
"Till now the poor have been given 4 crore houses.Those who have lived difficult lives only understand what is the value of getting a house.The women in the past suffered a lot due to the lack of a toilet system.Those who have these facilities cannot understand the problems of those who are suffering.We have given more than 12 crore toilets."
"Identifying the solution is one thing. But one needs to make efforts to find a solution as well. Our effort has been to solve the problem. In our country, there used to be a Prime Minister, there was a fashion to call him 'Mr Clean'. At that time, from panchayats to Parliament, there was the rule of only one party. And he said when Re 1 is spent, the poor used to get 15 paise," PM Modi said, in an apparent reference to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"Our model is 'bachat bhi, vikas bhi' - janta ka paisa, janta ke liye'. We brought the scheme of direct benefit transfer. We deposited Rs 40 lakh crore directly to the bank accounts of people."
"When the fever is high, people utter anything. But they also utter things when they are highly dejected.Those who were not born in India - 10 crore such frauds were reaping benefits of government funds through various schemes.We removed the names of such 10 crore frauds and provided facilities to the real beneficiaries after looking for them."
"Earlier, the headlines of the newspapers used to be related to scams and corruption.10 years have passed, crores of rupees have been saved which has been used for the public.we have taken several steps which have saved a lot of money, but we have not used that money to build a 'Sheeshmahal', instead we have used that money to build the nation."
It so happens that in case a lady is compelled to defecate in the open, she must step out at either dawn time or dusk hours. Some others do not recognize this reality too. We are building over 12 crore toilets and thus easy the plight of our sisters and daughters.
"In the last 10 years, we have increased the savings of the middle class by reducing Income Tax. Before 2014, such 'bombs' were hurled and 'bullets' were shot, that it affected the lives of people. We gradually healed those wounds and moved forward. In 2013-2014 tax exemption was only on Rs 2 Lakh income. Today there is an Income tax exemption on Rs 12 lakh income.We healed wounds and today we have applied bandages too. If we add the Rs 75,000 standard deduction, after 1st April, salaried class in the country will not have to pay any tax on income upto Rs 12.75 Lakh."
Read also| EC Responds to AAP: 'We Are a Three-Member Body, Not Run by One Person'
