PM Modi Takes a Dig at Opposition with 'Jacuzzi, Photo Op in Jhuggis, and Urban Naxal' Remarks

PM Modi while replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President's address also took periodic digs at the Opposition to refer to their "opportunistic and misleading" politics to forward their agenda by sacrificing public interest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday listed the government's key achievements and milestones in the past ten years, from public welfare schemes to tapping the new-age avenues of growth including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and also skilling the youth to scale up the country's growth engine.

PM Modi while replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President's address also took periodic digs at the Opposition to refer to their "opportunistic and misleading" politics to forward their agenda by sacrificing public interest.

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PM Modi during his over 100-minute speech in the Lok Sabha was in particular, critical of ‘Sheeshmahal’, signifying the splurge of the public money by AAP government and ‘photo op in jhuggis’, an indirect reference to Rahul Gandhi’s outreach to the poor and marginalised classes.

The Prime Minister mocked both the AAP and Congress leaders without taking names.

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"Some leaders have made their politics around jacuzzi and stylish showers, but our government was focused on plugging the gaps in tap water connection and working to achieve 100 per cent output under the Jal Jeevan Mission," PM Modi said, referring to water supply in Delhi.

Significantly, former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's official residence 'Sheeshmahal' replete with expensive and exquisite features, including jacuzzi, showers and golden toilets has been at the centre of heated poll campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections.

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Elaborating further on the people-intensive projects of the government, PM Modi listed schemes which were saving hundreds of crores of rupees and are being extensively utilised for improving their living standards.

In the past 10 years, we have saved crores of rupees which have been used for the public. We have not used that money to build a 'Sheeshmahal', instead we used that to build the nation," said the Prime Minister, evoking cheers from the treasury benches.

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PM Modi also criticized the decades of Congress rule for misleading the people with popular slogans like Garibi Hatao but then leaving them to their own fate.

Taunting the Congress leaders over photo-ops in jhuggis, he said that those who get photos clicked inside the huts for their own entertainment will find the discussion on the poor inside the Parliament 'boring'.

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The remark was against the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, as he was not present in the House when the speech was made.

Another jibe at the PM said that some leaders have lost their mental balance after being defeated several times.

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Further escalating his attack on the Opposition, he said that "Artificial Intelligence may be cute for some but for me and for this country, it stands for two things – Artificial Intelligence and Aspirational India".

PM Modi also said that some leaders are openly speaking the language of ‘urban naxals’ and openly challenging the Indian state, a clear reference to Rahul Gandhi’s recent statement that Congress’ fight is against the Indian state.

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"Those who speak this language don't understand the Constitution. For the past 7 decades, Jammu and Kashmir has been deprived of its Constitutional rights. Our government demolished the wall of Article 370 and brought a level playing field for the residents," PM Modi said.

He further said that those who roam around with a copy of Constitution in their pockets will never understand the kind of difficulties that they inflicted on Muslim women.

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"Our government ended Triple Talaq, bringing justice to crores of Muslim women," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that "the Opposition dwells on appeasement politics, but for us, it is the 'santushtikaran' that matters".

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Read also| EC Responds to AAP: 'We Are a Three-Member Body, Not Run by One Person'

Read also| Omar Abdullah Says INDIA Bloc's Future Uncertain, Urges Strategy Session for Delhi Polls

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