A day after his government decisively defeated a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that more the number of Opposition parties uniting against him, the more the BJP would bloom. He asserted that he enjoyed the trust of the people across the country and that he had to face the motion because his “only fault” was “fighting corruption” and “standing with full force against nepotism”.
Using the Hindi metaphor of a lotus rising above the sludge, Mr. Modi equated the “dal and dal” (Opposition parties) to the dal-dal (marshy area). “More the marshy area, more the lotus will bloom. Their game of dal dal will only provide opportunity for the lotus to bloom,” Mr. Modi said.
He was addressing a Kisan Kalyan rally for farmers in Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Modi has already addressed rallies in Azamgarh, Sant Kabir Nagar, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Noida over the past three weeks.
‘Pretentious game’
Criticising the Opposition for the no-confidence motion, Mr. Modi said they had disregarded the “mandate” of the people, who would no longer tolerate parties guided by the values of “arrogance and subjugation”. “Be it the SP or the BSP, you can take along anybody you like. But the country has clearly understood this pretentious game of selfishness,” Mr. Modi said.
Referring to the Opposition’s defeat in the trust vote, Mr. Modi said the Opposition’s “assessment” during the floor test was even poorer than their numbers. “ They cannot understand the mood of today’s India. They think they can continue to tamper with the system. But time has changed, so has the country and the mentality of the youth ... Their formula to threaten democracy won’t work any time soon,” Mr. Modi said.
Listing the various steps taken by his government for the welfare of farmers and the poor, he said that while the BJP government was busy electrifying households and providing toilets to women, the Opposition parties were running around Parliament with a no-confidence motion.
He also reiterated his charge that the Opposition was only focussed on gaining the PM’s seat and made a reference to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s surprise hugging act in the Lok Sabha after his speech on Friday.
“Some parties say they have no confidence in Modi, they have no confidence in the government to whom you gave a historic mandate. Yesterday [Friday] in Parliament, I repeatedly asked them to give the reason for [moving] the no-confidence [motion]. When they could not give a satisfactory reply, gale padh gaye (gave me an unwanted hug),” Mr. Modi said.
The PM’s rally in Shahjahanpur was strategically placed as the district is located at the intersection of the sugarcane and paddy belts, and houses one of the largest foodgrain mandis in the State.
Farmers from over half-a-dozen neighbouring districts attended the rally.