New Delhi,
Launching an all-out attack on the Congress in both Houses of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today blamed the grand old party for all ills afflicting the country. It was because of the wrong policies of successive Congress governments since 1947 that India lagged behind even those countries that “attained freedom after us”, he said.

He was replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President’s address.

Assailing the Congress, he said, “This is the same party that divided India. For decades, one party devoted all its energy in singing paeans to one family. The interests of the nation were overlooked for the interests of one family.”

Claiming that Partition was the result of the Congress’ wrong policies, he said, “Not a single day has passed when the country has not suffered due to the poison sowed by you.”

He went on to add that had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel been the first Prime Minister, a part of Kashmir would not have been under Pakistan control.

Claiming that the Congress was solely responsible for the huge NPAs of banks, Modi said when he took over in 2014, the situation was alarming. On paper, “the bank NPAs were shown as 36 per cent, but later it was found that these were actually 82 per cent”.

“I decided not to speak about it, but make efforts to fix these, as it involved a huge risk to the country’s economic ecosystem. Today, I am speaking on the issue, as now we have been able to largely bring the situation under control,” he added.

Modi criticised the Congress over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, alleging it did so only for “political” considerations and without any preparation.

Modi said, “When we speak about creating new states, we remember the manner in which Atal Bihari Vajpayee created Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. He showed how farsighted decision-making is done.”

In the Rajya Sabha, Modi hit out at Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had questioned the efficacy of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. He said it was not proper to relate it with such health schemes in the USA and other foreign countries, as the socio-economic condition in India was different.

Responding to Congress questioning the concept of “New India”, he said even Mahatma Gandhi wanted winding up the Congress after Independence. “Congress-mukt Bharat was the vision of Mahatma Gandhi. I am only following in his footsteps,” he said.

Responding to another charge by the Opposition that the government is “not a gamechanger, but name changer”, Modi said his government was “aim changer” as it was working to achieve targets within a deadline.

Questioning the Opposition for criticising the government for jail provision for erring husbands in triple talaq Bill, he said, “You do not remember this when a Hindu goes to jail.”