New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that after many decades, the country has given a strong mandate and a government was voted back into power.
While referring to the Emergency, Modi said: “Today is June 25, it was this night that country’s soul was crushed. India’s democracy wasn’t born out of constitution but it was born out of India’s soul. All of India was reduced to a jail, all the laws and constitutions were crushed on June 25,” said PM Modi while referring to the Emergency that was imposed in 1975 under Indira Gandhi.
“We remember this (Emergency) not because we want to criticise somebody but because we must not forget what happened. It is important for all of us to remember. This black spot on our democracy will stay forever,” PM Modi added.
Taking a dig at the dismal performance of Opposition in the 2019 national elections, Modi said: “The people’s journey from ‘why don’t do they do it (power, fuel, houses, roads) to why do they do it’ has been very long. Some people are so high that they no longer see the ground, they are so high that they are now uprooted, they are now so high that they look at those on the ground with contempt,”.
“This Lok Sabha elections have shown that more than themselves, the people of India are thinking about the betterment of the country, this spirit is commendable,” Modi said, addressing the Lok Sabha.
He said he never thought about polls in terms of victory and defeat.
“The opportunity to serve 130 crore Indians and work to make a positive difference in the lives of our citizens is special to me. The people saw us work for five years, we were given the fruits of our hardwork,” Modi added.
Referring to UPA, Modi said, “We were given a chance to rule in 2014 as people thought it was a way of escaping from “them”.”
He said that he understands that it takes time to change things which have been existing for last 70 years. They did not divert or dilute from their main goal.
They have moved forward, be it regarding infrastructure or in space, Modi said.
He was replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.
