Lotus blossoms in mud, says PM Modi amidst slogan-shouting by Opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha

Tribune News Service

Mukesh Ranjan

New Delhi, February 9

Hitting back at Opposition for their relentless tirade against him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said “lotus blossoms in mud” and “as much keechad (mud) you will throw on me, the bigger and stronger kamal (lotus) will bloom”.

Replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address to the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, the Prime Minister, while taking a dig at the Opposition members shouting slogans demanding JPC on the Adani-Hindenburg issue, said, “Some people’s behaviour and language are disappointing not just for the House but for the country.”

Accusing Congress of adopting only “tokenism” in solving problems, which the country faced, Modi said, his government’s approach is to find “permanent solutions” and to reach to the level of “saturation” in the delivery of people-centric schemes. “For me this is the real secularism, as we do not differentiate on the basis of religion and caste lines for political benefits,” he asserted.    

“We have decided to achieve saturation levels in schemes to benefit everyone during ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal’, this is true secularism. We have pledged to achieve 100 per cent saturation in all schemes that will put an end to all kinds of appeasement. Merely expressing intent doesn’t work, what matters is speed, direction and result of developments,” Modi said.

“Keechad unke pass tha, mere pass gulal. Jo jis ke pass tha, usne diya uchal,” Modi quoted Manik Verma’s poem in response to the allegations opposition parties leveled against him and his government. This nearly meant that they had dirt and he had “gulal”, whosoever had whatever they flung in the air.

“Jitna keechad uchaloge, kamal utna hee zyada khilega (the more dirt you fling, the bigger kamal -- the election symbol of BJP -- will bloom),” he said as Opposition MPs shouted slogans linking Modi to billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani and seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into allegations leveled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research.

However, sidestepping the Adani-Hindenburg issue raised by the Opposition parties, the Prime Minister in his reply recounted achievements of his governments -- from eliminating waiting period for getting cooking gas to opening bank accounts for everyone, supply of piped water to crores of households and providing electricity connections.

PM Modi says Rs 27 lakh-crore were sent to beneficiaries through DBT using ‘Jan Dhan Aadhar Mobile’ trinity in the last few years.

More than half of the population without banking facilities till 2014, now 48 crore accounts opened in the last 9 years, he noted. 

“Our government has extended potable water supply to 11 crore houses in the last 3-4 years against only 3 crore before 2014. Voice of small and marginal farmers not heard in the past, now our government is working for their welfare,” Modi said.

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