PTI

NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked the Opposition’s proposed grand alliance as “maha-milawat” which the country’s “healthy democracy” will reject as he blasted the Congress for “intimidating” judiciary, targeting the Election Commission and “betraying” the nation by neglecting the armed forces.

In a hard-hitting reply in Lok Sabha to the motion of thanks to the President’s address, Modi compared the work under his “55-month” rule to the Congress’ record of “55 years” in power, while making a re-election pitch in what was likely his last speech in the House before the general election.

The motion was passed by a voice vote following the Prime Minister’s 100-minute reply, in which he highlighted his anti-corruption plank and targeted the opposition parties that had come together at a recent Kolkata rally saying their leaders are “out on bail in wholesale.”

While the Congress’ rule of 55 years was about “satta-bhog” (enjoying power), his government was all about “sewa bhav” (sense of service), Modi said, adding that the opposition party’s main grouse against him was that he had challenged its “sultanate” and shaken it up despite coming from a poor family and being from outside Delhi. “This intoxication (of power) is the reason of your problem,” he added.

With opposition parties joining hands to build a grand alliance against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Modi said the country has seen for 30 years such “milawat-wali” (adulterated) governments and the new combination against him is “maha-milawat” (highly adulterated). “A healthy society keep away from adulterated food. Our healthy democracy will keep away from this maha-milawat,” he said.

With Congress president Rahul Gandhi constantly targeting his government for alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, he claimed that the opposition party wanted the transaction cancelled as it was batting for another company. “You do not want the air force to be strong. With which company are you siding? At whose behest you have been speaking so?” he asked, charging that middlemen were always part of defence deals when Congress was in power.

BJP leaders have been alleging that the Congress has been batting for Eurofighter, which was in competition with Rafale for India’s bid to acquire the next generation fighter aircraft.

Expressing confidence that the BJP will return to power, he took a swipe at the Congress and said it should carry on its preparations against his government so as to bring a “no-confidence” motion against it in 2023 as it had done in 2018. As he said so, Congress leaders were heard accusing him of arrogance, to which he retorted that his confidence was driven by his party’s “sewa bhav” as this brought the BJP to power with a majority in 2014 after it had fallen to two seats in 1984 polls.