PM Modi blasts Opposition: 'Undemocratic attempt made to throttle voice of PM'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Opposition, saying some parties have practiced "negative politics" and "misused" Parliament to hide their political failures. He said in the first session, an undemocratic attempt was made by the opposition to throttle the voice of the government. 

"You would have seen that in the first session of this Lok Sabha. An undemocratic attempt was made to throttle the voice of the government that had been ordered by 140 crore Indians to serve. For two-and-a-half hours, attempts were made to scuttle the voice of the prime minister and such a thing has no place in democratic traditions. They have no remorse over it," Modi said, a day before the budget presentation. 

The Prime Minister's remarks were an apparent reference to the incident in the last session when he delivered his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address amid protests and continuing sloganeering by the opposition that was demanding that both MPs from Manipur be allowed to speak. 

"People have sent us here for desh, not dal. This Parliament is not for 'dal (party)' but for 'desh (country)' This Parliament is not limited to MPs but it is for 140 crore people of the country," he asserted. Modi said there was nothing wrong with opposing views but it was the negative views that were wrong. The country does not need negativity, he said. "We have to take the country forward with the ideology of development and progress." 

He said people have given their verdict in the Lok Sabha polls and now all political parties must fight together for the country for the next five years. "I want to tell all MPs, they may be of any party, that from January onwards we fought a pitched electoral battle, we conveyed to the people what we wanted to convey, some showed the way while others misled, but that period is over now. The people have given their verdict," the PM said. 

"Now it is the responsibility of all elected representatives and that of all political parties that we have fought for our respective parties and now for the next five years, we have to fight for the country and strive for it," he added. 

The prime minister urged political parties to rise above party lines and make use of the platform of Parliament for the next four to four-and-a-half years. "In January 2029, when it will be an election year, then you can go into the poll field, even make use of Parliament for it. Play the games you want to for those six months but till then, work for empowering the poor, farmers, youth and women by building a movement of people's participation to fulfil the dream of 2047," Modi said. 

"I say with a lot of sadness that after 2014, some MPs were elected for 5 years, some for 10 years, but many MPs did not get a chance to talk about their constituency and share their views in Parliament because of the negative politics of some parties that misused Parliament to hide their political failures," he said. 

Modi urged all parties to give a chance to first-time MPs to speak in Parliament and give opportunities to them. 

(With inputs from PTI)