Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invoked the legacy of the first deputy prime minister of India, Vallabhbhai Patel, while criticising the Congress party in the Lok Sabha for 'dividing the country'.
Prime Minister Modi was addressing the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President's address.
"If Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would have been the first prime minister of the country, then entire Kashmir would have been ours," he said.
Slamming the opposition amid the chaos created by them during his address, Modi said, "You (Congress) divided the country, despite which the country supported you. You used to rule the nation during a time when the opposition had no power."
"Aapne (Congress) pura samay ek parivar ke geet gaane me laga diya, ek hi parivar ko desh yaad rakhe saari shakti usi mein laga di. Agar neeyat saaf hoti toh ye desh jahan hai, usse kahin aage hota. (For decades, one party devoted all their energies to serving one family. The interests of the nation were looked over just for the interests of one family)," he added.
The prime minister continued to speak even when the Opposition kept raising slogans, declaring, "Democracy is not a reward granted to us by Congress or Nehruji; democracy is in our blood, it is our tradition."
Amid protests by MPs demanding a special package for Andhra Pradesh, Modi tore into the Congress for what he termed as 'dividing' Andhra Pradesh and earlier the country in 1947 for political gains.
"This is your character. You divided India. Even after 70 years of Independence, 125 crore people of India continue to suffer because of the poison you sowed. Not a single day passes when people of India are not punished for your sins," Modi said.
