Modi's pre-session statement sparks political clash, Congress demands focus on inflation, jobs | WATCH

The Congress on Friday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "no foreign attempt to stoke the fire" before Parliament session remark, saying he tries to divert the attention of the country by putting forward a conspiracy theory before the session begins.

Speaking with reporters ahead of the Budget Session, Modi said it is perhaps the first time since 2014 that no attempt has been made from abroad to "stoke a fire" in India before the start of a Parliament session.

In a post in Hindi in X, Kharge said, "Prime Minister Modi tries to divert the attention of the country by putting forward conspiracy theories before the Parliament session begins. Things which are not in the President's address, on which the government has no official statement. Despite this, Modi ji talks like this in the press briefing. This is wrong." 

"Narendra Modi ji forgets to tell that the schemes like Aadhaar, UPI, railway in Kashmir, metro construction, which were mentioned in the President's address, are all the schemes of the Congress era," he said.

प्रधानमंत्री मोदी जी संसद शुरू होने से पहले Conspiracy theory गढ़कर देश का ध्यान भटकाने का काम करते हैं।

जो बातें राष्ट्रपति के अभिभाषण में नहीं हैं, जिस पर सरकार का कोई आधिकारिक बयान नहीं है। बावजूद इसके मोदी जी प्रेस ब्रीफिंग में इस तरह की बात करते हैं। ये गलत है।

नरेंद्र… pic.twitter.com/FvGDujbUMA

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) January 31, 2025

"I myself inaugurated two railway projects in Kashmir while being the railway minister. Narendra Modi is calling the work of Congress as his own," he said. The prime minister should talk about what he will do this year and what his preparation is for the development of the country, he said.

"Dr Manmohan Singh ji did a lot of work for the development of the country, but Narendra Modi does not even mention him. Neither does he talk about the contribution of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ji," he said. The President read in her address only what the government wrote and there was no mention of public interest issues in it, Kharge said. There was no discussion on issues of youth, Dalits, unemployment, inflation, he said.

"I will raise these issues during the discussion on the address of Her Excellency the President in Parliament," he told reporters. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit back at Modi over his remark, saying he never talks about people's issues and does not address them.

"He does not talk about people's issues, does not address them. We saw in the last session, he did not (allow) debate. So he will say such things," the Congress general secretary told reporters in Parliament premises.

In his remarks before the session, Modi took a swipe at opposition parties, saying there were people ready to do mischief before every session since 2014 and there was also no dearth of those who would fuel such attempts.

"Shayad 2014 se lekar ab tak, ye pehla Parliament ka satr hai, ki jiske ek-do din pehle koi videshi chingari nahi pakdi hai, videsh mein se aag lagane ki koshish nahi hui hai (Perhaps since 2014, this is the first session of Parliament in which a day or two before the session, there has been no foreign attempt to stoke a fire from abroad)," Modi said before the start of the session.

(Except for the headline, nothing has been changed by AINN News in the PTI.)