Congress turned AI Summit into a stage for its ‘gandi aur nangi’ politics: PM Modi

“The actions of the Congress leaders show how ideologically bankrupt the nation’s oldest political party has become. We are the kind of people who want to make even a marriage in a village successful so that guests return with a good image of the village. On the other hand, the Congress is eager to defame its own country,” the PM said.

Modi said representatives of more than 80 countries, including the heads of state of 20 countries and lakhs of people from across India, participated in the summit. Such an event had not been held in a developing country before, he said. “While some people are working round the clock to make India a developed nation. But some political parties cannot digest India’s success.”

Claiming that the Congress’s allies were also taken by surprise by the incident at the Bharat Mandapam, Modi said the Opposition party had become a “burden” on the country. The PM said the actions were limited to Congress leaders alone and did not involve its allies. “I am satisfied that the Congress’s allies showed the courage to criticise it. I publicly express gratitude towards those members of the Opposition for standing up for the country’s honour,” he said.

“I humbly request the media that when we criticise such actions, please do not run headlines saying ‘Modi lashes out at the Opposition’. Please stop these attempts to shield the Congress,” the PM said, adding, “Congress leaders hate me and want to dig my grave. They even abuse my mother. It’s fine that they are against the BJP and the NDA. But Congress should recognise that the AI Summit was not the BJP’s programme. Neither was any BJP leader present there.”

Alleging that the Congress’s actions were affecting parliamentary functioning, Modi targeted the Opposition party over its women MPs allegedly planning to charge towards his seat. The PM did not attend the Lok Sabha that day on the advice of Speaker Om Birla and did not make his scheduled speech on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, leading to the adjournment of proceedings. The Congress has denied the allegations.

“They are unable to perform in Parliament and do not allow their allies to speak. By not allowing Parliament to function, it is their allies who suffer the most,” Modi said in Meerut. Without naming anyone, he added, “If you want to sit in the Prime Minister’s chair, you must first win the hearts of the people. You cannot become prime minister by sending women MPs to occupy seats. What compulsion is there to push mothers and sisters forward like this? Have you become so hollow?”

Modi said he had earlier urged the Congress and the Samajwadi Party to abandon their “zehrili (toxic)” politics and compete on the issue of development, but they have “not changed their divisive approach”.

The PM’s criticism came a day after a Delhi court remanded four Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers to five days of police custody, noting that their protest transcended the “ambit of legitimate dissent” and hurt the country’s “diplomatic image before foreign stakeholders”.

Trade deals

Bringing up the recently concluded trade agreements with the European Union and the United States, the PM said developed countries were now inking pacts with India. “There was a time when, even if it tried, the Congress government was not able to strike agreements with developed countries. This is because the world was scared to do deals with the corruption-ridden Congress government.”

The PM said small sports goods manufacturers in Meerut, Moradabad’s brassware businesses, Baghpat’s home furnishing businesses, and leather and textile businesses would benefit from the agreements.

Modi said projects such as the Meerut Metro and the Delhi-Meerut corridor would have been impossible in the days of the Congress and SP governments in Delhi and UP. “Technologies used for the Metro had to be imported from other countries. We stopped the scams and moved the country forward in self-reliance,” he said.