PM resorted to 'old evading tactics' to hoodwink common people: Congress

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that his party scored a "great victory" as the Prime Minister, who was previously "reluctant" to quote any Congress leader, was "compelled" to repeat Jawaharlal Nehru's words at the fag end of his speech.

"Prime Minister in his own reply has disappointed the people of our country by not taking up issues concerning the people, right from agriculture to industry to unemployment and last but not the least Bihar's encephalitis situation where hundreds of children have lost their lives," Chowdhury told reporters.

"He resorted to old evading tactics to hoodwink the common people, as if he was still in election mode. We expected that he would rise above partisan issues and would be conciliatory in taking all along," he said.

This is the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha and the Prime Minister could have been statesman-like so that it sets the tone for a constructive and fruitful atmosphere in Parliament in coming days, but that was absent, he said.

"We also noted that Prime Minister was drawn into our incisive argument, and had to quote Jawahar Lal Nehru ji at the fag end of his speech. I think, that is a great victory for us!" Chowdhury said.

Taking a swipe at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said the party never recognised efforts of anyone but only the members from the Gandhi-Nehru family.

Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in Lok Sabha, Modi said the Congress never spoke about the good work of former prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and PV Narasimha Rao.

"There are some people who feel only a few names contributed to the national progress. They only want to hear those few names and ignore the others. We think differently, we feel each and every citizen has worked for India's progress," Modi said.

"Did they ever speak about the good work of Narasimha Rao ji? In this Lok Sabha debate, the same people did not even speak of Manmohan ji," the Prime Minister added.

Modi reminded the Congress of the Emergency, saying it is a blot on the democracy that will never fade.

He also quoted first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who has often been at the receiving end of his criticism in the past, describing him as "great" and asking lawmakers to work together to create a sense of duty in the society as well.