Speaking in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the need for simultaneous elections and rubbished concerns over the credibility of EVMs besides speaking for the first time on the lynching of a Muslim youth in Jharkhand. 

He also said it was a matter of “shame” and the “biggest failure” of last seven decades that over 130 children died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar this month.

Replying to the motion of thanks to the President, the PM, who has been criticised for not speaking against the lynching of a Muslim youth in BJP-ruled Jharkhand, said “security of every citizen is our Constitutional duty”. 

“The lynching in Jharkhand has pained me. It has saddened others, too. Guilty should get severest punishment, but the entire State has been pronounced guilty for this incident, which is not right,” he said.

The PM stressed that all incidents of violence in the country, whether in Jharkhand, West Bengal or Kerala, should be treated the same and law should take its course.

The motion of thanks was passed by Parliament after its passage in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Also read:On Emergency anniversary, PM attacks Congress, stresses on welfarist polity

In his hour-long reply, Modi attacked the Congress for “neither learning to appreciate victory nor digest defeat in elections”. He said it was sheer arrogance that it is unable to accept its defeat and continues to question the mandate of the people through attacks on EVMs.

Modi, who had targeted the Congress in his reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, accused the opposition party of heaping “insult” on the massive mandate given by the people to the BJP by terming their decision “a defeat of the country, democracy and farmers”.

“You (Congress) just won elections in three large States... but look at the kind of news those States are making,” he said, indicating reports of factionalism from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh since the Lok Sabha election. The Congress, he said, should introspect, not blame others or claim that “democracy has lost”. “Tell me, did India lose in Wayanad? Did India lose in Rae Bareli? What are they trying to say? Is Congress’ loss a loss for India? Is India Congress, and Congress India? There is a limit to being arrogant,” said Modi.

Countering the opposition charge of media bias during elections, he said, “Is media on sale? Was it on sale in Tamil Nadu and Kerala (where Congress and its allies won)?”

On Assam NRC 

The Prime Minister also took the Congress to task for its “clamour for credit” saying why it was not doing so in the case of National Register for Citizens as it was first agreed to by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the Assam Accord.

“NRC is not a vote bank issue for this government. It is an issue of national security, he said, adding the move to list citizens and identify outsiders was done on the orders of the Supreme Court,” he said.

With 22 bills lapsing in the Rajya Sabha — the House did not pass them before the end of 16th Lok Sabha term — Modi said the Upper House is part of the federal structure of the country and the members must introspect and cooperate in framing of crucial legislations.

“We don’t have the majority in the Rajya Sabha but the verdict of the people should not be throttled in the House,” he said, adding that the opposition parties in the Upper House got special pleasure in “demeaning” the government.

While the BJP has an absolute majority in Lok Sabha, the party along with its allies lacks the numbers in Rajya Sabha, which has led to stalling of some legislations, including on Triple Talaq  and making Aadhaar an optional ID proof for obtaining mobile sim cards and opening bank accounts.

Parties which obstructed constructive government work in Rajya Sabha have been punished by the voters in the recent general elections, the Prime Minister said.

Takes a dig on LoP

Making a jibe at Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, he said that during the debate some people demanded return to ‘Old India’ instead of the ‘New India’ where technology is being used to ease lives and end corruption.

Also read:Return ‘our old India’ with a culture of love; keep your ‘New India’, says Ghulam Nabi Azad

The Congress party, suggested the PM, should hold their Working Committee meeting in Gujarat. “ Azad saheb kuch din guzarein Gujarat mein  (Mr Azad please spend some days in Gujarat),” Modi quipped, using a tagline of Gujarat Tourism.

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