Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday described the Union Budget 2024-25, to be presented on Tuesday, as a “milestone budget” of the Amrit Kaal, and said that his government is working tirelessly to accomplish the guarantees that he has promised to the people over the years.
In his remarks to the media before the beginning of the Budget session, Modi alluded to the Opposition protests during the special session of Parliament and accused it of trying to muzzle the voice of the elected government and the prime minister. In the Lok Sabha on July 2, during the PM’s reply to the discussion on the President’s address, Opposition MPs had sloganeered during his speech, protesting that the two MPs from Manipur were not allowed to take part in the debate.
“You would have seen that in the first session of this Lok Sabha, an undemocratic attempt was made to scuttle the voice of the government that has been asked by 1.4 billion Indians to serve. For two-and-a-half hours, attempts were made to scuttle the voice of the prime minister and such a thing has no place in democratic traditions. They have no remorse over it,” Modi said.
On the Budget, the PM said, “This Budget will set the direction of the next five years of the current government and will lay a strong foundation for achieving the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047 when India completes one hundred years of Independence.”
Modi noted that it was after 60 years that a government will present the first budget of its third successive term. The PM said India’s is the fastest-growing of the world’s major economies, averaging 8 per cent growth in the last three years. He said a positive outlook, improved investments, and better performance of the Indian economy have meant that opportunities are at their peak, and this is an important milestone in India’s development journey. The Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha has allotted 20 hours for the discussion on the Budget in the House.
The PM said the dust has settled on the pitched electoral battles that political parties and leaders waged from January 2024 until the election results were declared. He urged MPs to observe a moratorium on protests in Parliament until January 2029. “Now it is the responsibility of all elected representatives and that of all political parties that we have fought for our respective parties and now for the next five years, we have to fight for the country and strive for it,” Modi said. “Go to the battlefields of the election in January 2029. Till then, the only priority should be the country, its poor, farmers, women and the youth,” he said.
Modi said the “negative approach” of the Opposition has robbed MPs of expressing their views and flagging issues pertaining to their respective constituencies. “People have sent us here for desh not dal. This Parliament is not for ‘dal (party)’ but for ‘desh (country)’ This Parliament is not limited to MPs but it is for 140 crore people of the country,” he said.
The Congress hit back at the PM. Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the person who “throttled the country and suppressed its voice” for 10 years, today looked “very weak and was seen weeping” when the Opposition raised its voice. Congress’ Gaurav Gogoi, the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, said the PM and the government should answer questions on the NEET issue, terror attacks in Jammu and the increasing inflation.
In the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, led the opposition attack on the government over the exam paper leak issue, saying there is a serious problem in the country’s exam system and that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has blamed everybody except himself for it.
Under opposition fire, Pradhan said that he was “here at the mercy of my leader, the prime minister” and that his government is collectively answerable. The minister said that there has been no evidence of paper leaks in the last seven years.
First Published: Jul 22 2024 | 5:40 PM IST
