Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday accused the Congress of insulting voters of the country by questioning the massive victory of the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thaks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha, Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress, saying by questioning the mandate of the people, the opposition party has put voters in the dock.
"After such a big mandate, you say you (BJP) have won, but the country has lost....If the Congress loses, does the country get defeated. Does the Congress mean the country and country means the Congress. There is a limit of arrogance," Modi said.
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Commenting on the recent lynching in Jharkhand, Modi said, "The lynching in Jharkhand has pained me. It has saddened others too. But, some people in the Rajya Sabha are calling Jharkhand a hub of lynching. Is this fair? Why are they insulting a state? None of us have the right to insult the state of Jharkhand."
The prime minister said that by using such language the Congress has hurt voters of the country.
Going by the Congress party's arguments, he wondered whether the victory of the Congress in Wayanad and Rae Bareli seats too was "defeat of the country".
"Did India lose in Wayanad? Did India lose in Rae Bareli? Did India lose in Trivandrum, what about Amethi? What kind of argument is this? If Congress loses then does that mean India lost? There is a limit to arrogance. Congress could not win a single seat in 17 states," said Modi.
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"Due to narrow-mindedness and perversity of thoughts, if some people do not accept mandate of the people by saying that 'you may have won the election but the country has lost', there can be nothing more insulting for our democracy than this," he said.
Noting that the Congress was not able to win even a single Lok Sabha seat in 17 states, he said it was time for the Congress to introspect and "accept defeat".
The prime minister also hit out the Congress for questioning EVMs, which have been lauded globally.
"Election Commission had invited parties on the issue of EVMs but just two parties accepted- CPI and NCP. I appreciate them for going to EC to learn more about the issue. But, why did the rest of the parties questioning the EVMs not even bother to go, they should answer," said the Prime Minister.
"There have been so many elections with EVMs and parties that are present in the Rajya Sabha have got opportunities to govern in different states after elections were held through EVMs. Then, why question EVMs today?" asked Modi.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
