Undemocratic attempt made to scuttle voice of PM: Modi slams Opposition

Modi said that 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.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday sought to push an aggressive Opposition to the corner as Parliament session started claiming some parties indulged in "negative politics" and "misused" Parliament to hide their political failures.

Insisting that the House is not for 'dal' (party) but for 'desh' (country), he also alleged that there was "an undemocratic attempt to suppress the voice of the government" in the first session of the new Parliament last month.

Recalling the Opposition protest during his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Lok Sabha last month, he said there can be "no place in democratic traditions for throttling" the country's Prime Minister for two and a half hours, for stopping his voice, for suppressing his voice.

There is "no remorse for all this, there is no pain in the heart", he told reporters ahead of the Parliament Session.

"Today, I want to insist that the countrymen have sent us here for the country, not for the party. This House is not for the party, this House is for the country. This House is not limited to the MPs, it is for the vast extent of 140 crore countrymen. I believe that all our MPs will enrich the discussion with full preparation, no matter how many opposing views there may be, opposing views are not bad, negative views are bad," he said.

Urging they should use the "temple of democracy" positively to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the common man of India, he said the country does not need negativity and it has to move forward with an ideology, the ideology of progress, the ideology of development, the ideology that will take the country to new heights.

In the last six months, he said, all of them had "fought whatever battles we had to fight with whatever strength we had, and whatever we had to tell the public".

"Some tried to show the way, some tried to mislead. But now that phase is over, the countrymen have given their decision. Now it is the duty of all the MPs, it is the special responsibility of all the parties that we have fought as many battles as we had to fight for the party, now for the next five years," he said.

He urged all parties to use the "dignified platform" of Parliament for the next four and a half years by rising above party politics and dedicating ourselves only to the country.

In January, 2029, he said one can go into poll field again when it will be an election year and 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," he said.

He said 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".

Referring to the Budget, he said it is an important budget of 'Amrit kaal' and it would determine the direction of the work for five years.

"This budget will come before the country tomorrow with a budget that lays a strong foundation to fulfil our dream of a developed India in 2047, when we will celebrate 100 years of independence. It is a matter of pride for every citizen of the country that India is the fastest growing country among the countries with big economies. We are moving ahead, growing with a continuous growth rate of 8 per cent in the last three years. Today, the positive outlook, investment and performance in India are at the peak of opportunity. This in itself is an important milestone in India's development journey," he said.