Three days after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed credited separatists and outsiders for the smooth conduct of polls in the State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi frowned upon the remark and said his government did not support the sentiment.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Modi sought to assure the House that there would be no compromise on Kashmir and the statement could not be supported. The Prime Minister also rebutted the Opposition’s accusations that the NDA government was pro-corporate and presented old UPA schemes renamed and repackaged.
Asserting that the government would continue to move ahead with its policy of zero tolerance to terrorism, he said resolutions passed in Parliament vis-a-vis Kashmir would be implemented in letter and spirit.
The Prime Minister said the credit for a peaceful election in Kashmir went to the voters who had shattered the myths in force for years about Kashmir. He said by turning out to vote in large numbers they had put their stamp of approval on what India had been saying all along and underlined the faith in the people of the State. Mr. Modi said the BJP-PDP coalition government would be run on the basis of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP).
The Prime Minister began his speech with a sharp defence of his policies. With a touch of humour he gave a stern reply to Congress’ Anand Sharma, who had accused the Modi government of threatening the Opposition in the name of revealing the names of those having black money accounts.
“Threats don’t work in a democracy, but as the Chief Minister of Gujarat I have for 14 years been at the receiving end of threats of being sent to jail. I believe that the dream of bringing back black money would have been possible by now had an SIT been formed in 2011 when the Supreme Court had asked for it. That time the SIT was not formed because there was an attempt to save somebody.”
Asked to explain his foreign policy, the Prime Minister said his government did not believe in looking down or showing aggression, but wanted to have good relations with the world, especially the neighbours. He cited the rescue of stranded and detained Indian nationals as an example of his successful foreign policy.
The Prime Minister also denied there was a move to reduce compensation to farmers under the Land Acquisition Act or any dilution of the Food Security Act; he said schemes such as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Housing for All are aimed at uplifting the poor and the deprived.
He also listed how in the past nine months his government had more to show compared with the 45 months of UPA rule, and said it exemplified the “good governance” that he had promised the country.
