Narendra Modi takes swipe at Opposition using couplets

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday read out couplets of Hindi satirist Kaka Hathrasi and poet Dushyant Kumar to target the Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha. https://t.co/Ikh7uniQoi

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 8, 2023

Responding to a debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the lower house of Parliament, Modi said the world was looking at India with hope amid instability in some parts of the globe due to the once-in-a-century pandemic and conflicts.

”But some people who are neck deep in frustration refuse to accept India’s growth story. They cannot see the achievements of 140 crore Indians,” Modi said, targeting the Opposition.

He said Kaka Hathrasi had written something very interesting. ”Aaga-peecha dekh kar, kyon hote gamgin, jaisi jiski bhavna, vaisa dikhe scene (why be sad looking here and there, one will view a scene according to one’s perspective).” On another occasion, the prime minister quoted Dushyant Kumar, ”Tumhaare paanv ke neeche koi zameen nahin, kamaal ye hai ki phir bhi tumhen yaqeen nahin (no ground under your feet, amazing that you still don’t believe it).” The prime minister drew attention of the House to the decade before 2014 and said that the years between 2004 to 2014 were burdened with scams, and at the same time there were terror attacks taking place in various parts of the country.

This decade saw the decline of the Indian economy and the Indian voice grew very feeble on global fora. The era was marked by ”mauke mein musibat” (adversity in opportunity).

In the early part of his speech, the prime minister said during Tuesday’s proceeding, after the speech of some, the entire ”ecosystem” and supporters were elated.

They were happy and said ”yeh hui na baat”.

They must have slept well, he said in a dig at the Opposition.

For such people, it has been said, ”Ye keh keh ke hum dil ko behla rahe hain, woh ab chal chuke hain, wo ab aa rahe hain (we are befooling our hearts by telling it, they have left, and now they are coming),” Modi quoted a couplet by famous poet Jigar Moradabadi.

On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi had led a blistering opposition attack in Lok Sabha over the Hindenburg report, claiming that the meteoric rise in Gautam Adani’s fortunes happened after the BJP came to power in 2014 as he climbed the global rich list from the 609th to the second spot eventually.

Source: Press Trust of India