Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened his arms with the grace of a victor as he reached out to the Opposition in his reply to President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to the joint session of parliament on Monday.
“After the elections, we all are the custodian of the hopes and aspirations of the people,” Modi said in the Lok Sabha in a speech that echoed the statesmanship of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his party’s only other prime minister.
“Victory teaches us a lot of lessons. It teaches us humility… It is my earnest hope that we will get the power to fight arrogance,” Modi said.
The prime minister said he welcomed criticism, and that he would work to take everybody along.
“If we don’t run the government for the benefit of the poor people then the citizens of the country will not forgive us,” Modi said in reply to the motion of thanks on President’s address to the joint session of Parliament.
“We will empower the poor to enable them to fight poverty,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that education is the biggest tool to fight poverty.
India is a country of villages but have we really changed the lives of farmers or people in villages, Modi asked.
“But have we really managed to change the lives of the farmers or people living in villages?” he said.
He added that if villages are developed by providing continuous power supply, education and industries then no one will migrate.
The PM further said that it is high time the latest technologies are implemented in the agriculture sector. He lamented the fact that no research has taken place on pulses for the past several years.
Talking about the safety of women in the country, he said that everyone should respect them and that their safety should be everyone’s priority.
He further called on political leaders to stop the psychological analysis of rape incidents, saying enough has been said and that it’s equivalent to playing with the dignity of the women.
Referring to rising prices of commodities, Modi said that the government will make all efforts to bring down inflation.
“We will make sure that no poor person in the country sleeps hungry,” he said.