Lok Sabha: Modi speaks about BJP’s victory in Odisha, says conspiracy being hatched to defame Hindus

New Delhi: “We were enormously blessed in the land of Mahaprabhu Jagannath,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, referring to BJP’s win in both Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections in Odisha. Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address inLower House, the PM said that NDA achieved unprecedented success in four states which saw twin polls.

“In Andhra Pradesh, NDA made a clean sweep. We received blessings in Odisha. In Sikkim and Arunachal, we formed the government again. BJP opened its account in Kerala this time, and our MP is proudly sitting here. The BJP has registered a strong presence in many seats in Tamil Nadu. In UP and Rajasthan, BJP’s vote percentage has increased compared to last time,” he said.

In Odisha, the BJP bagged 78 of 147 Assembly seats and swept the Lok Sabha polls winning 20 of 21 seats.

He further pointed out that the BJP has increased its voter percentage in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand, where elections are expected later this year. “We have received more votes in these three states in the recent Lok Sabha elections than what we got in the previous assembly elections. We have also made gains in Punjab. The blessings of the people are with us,” the PM said.

Modi also took a ‘childish behaviour’ swipe at Rahul Gandhi over his speech and said a conspiracy was being hatched to level false allegations against Hindus. “Their ecosystem is to degrade the Hindu culture, make fun of them. It’s a fashion for them. Their allies compare Hinduism to malaria and they clap. The country will never forget,” he said.

“Rahul is out on bail in a corruption case, convicted for insulting OBC community, and facing several defamation cases. Today the country is telling him, tumse na ho payega.”

In his first speech in Parliament as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Rahul had launched launch a sharp attack on PM Modi, the BJP and its ideological mentor, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, accusing them of spreading fear.

‘Congress Has Become A Parasite’

Taking a jibe at the Congress, Modi said that this is the first time in Congress’s history that they have not crossed the 100-seat mark three times in a row. ‘It would have been better if Congress had accepted its defeat and respected the mandate of the people but they are busy doing some Sirsasana…Bachhe ka mann behlane ka kaam chal raha hai. Instead Congress and its ecosystem trying to impress upon people that they have defeated us. People of the country have given a mandate for the Congress to sit in the opposition,” he stressed.

He also called the grand old party a “parasite”. “If you analyse the just-concluded Lok Sabha results, you will see that where the Congress fought alone it could not win many seats. But in states where the grand old party piggybacked on other parties, it made considerable gains. This shows that Congress now eats away the votes of parties it aligns with like a parasite,” he said.

Accusing the party of spreading anarchy, he said, “Congress is spreading anarchy by its economic policies, divisive politics around castes and regions and questioning democratic process.”

He also listed out failures and rampant corruption of the UPA government. “There was a period of scams when it was shamelessly accepted publicly that if Rupee 1 is sent from Delhi, only 15 paise reaches. In Rupee 1, there is a scam of 85 paise. This world of scams had drowned the country in the depths of despair. There was policy paralysis..If a poor person wants to buy a house, he had to give bribe of thousands of rupees. For gas connection, people had to make rounds to the MPs and even then they did not get a gas connection.”

The Opposition benches created a ruckus as soon as Modi began speaking in the House, raising slogans of “justice for Manipur” and “Jhooth bole kaua kaate (lie and you get pecked by a crow)” throughout his entire speech. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also seen chiding the LoP for directing members to enter the Well.