Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday blasted the Congress and its allies for spreading lies and said they would not be able to derail the nation’s progress for which his government had received a mandate from people for a third consecutive time in the biggest election of the world.

Delivering a nearly two-and-a-half hour reply to the Lok Sabha debate on President Droupadi Murmu’s address to Parliament, he said amidst continuous uproar by the Opposition, the nation will not forgive what Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke about Hindus being violent, and hoped Speaker Om Birla will take action as per expectations of the nation and the House.

The Prime Minister said the government is serious about stopping paper leaks during examinations, on which the President had drawn attention in her address. He said steps have been taken and arrests have been made in the NEET examination paper leaks at several places. Those guilty would not be spared. The government has already enacted a strong law to deal with the menace of paper leakages, he said.

The Lok Sabha adopted the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address after rejecting all amendments by a voice vote. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh moved a motion to condemn Opposition disturbances during the Prime Minister’s speech and it was approved after Home Minister Amit Shah seconded it. The House was adjourned sine die after this.

Mr Modi said the 2024 election had given a mandate to the Congress to sit in the Opposition, but it was trying to spread the impression that it had defeated the BJP. “When you have no arguments, you go on shouting,” he said.

In Congress history, he said, it was the first time that it had failed to go beyond 100; it was its third biggest defeat, and third worst performance. The Prime Minister said the Congress should have accepted its defeat and done introspection, but what they look like doing is “sheer-shasan.”

Wherever there was a straight fight between the BJP and the Congress, the Congress could get a strike rate of just 26 per cent; and most of the 99 seats the party won were the gift of its allies only, Mr Modi said.

Not just the Congress Party, he said the Congress “eco-system” has also been a challenge for the country after 2014. “I want to warn this ecosystem that it thinks it can derail the nation’s progress, but it will get the reply in its own language. This country will not accept any conspiracy against it,” Mr Modi said.

“What happened yesterday in the Lok Sabha cannot be taken lightly,” the Prime Minister said. “Their actions are not simple and their lies create doubts about the power of reasoning of people. They are a big slap on the nation’s glory and the Speaker has the responsibility to respond, the nation and the House hope he will take effective action. On the Constitution and reservation also, the Congress has always spoken lies,” he said.

Mr Modi said 131 years back, Swami Vivekananda said in Chicago that he was proud that he belonged to a religion which taught tolerance to the world. Hindu is tolerant, accepts everyone; India’s diversity flourished only because of that, he said. Today, there is a wrong accusation against the Hindus. It was said Hindus are violent. “This is your sanskar, for centuries, this nation will not forget this,” he said.

Without naming the Leader of the Opposition, he referred to Mr Gandhi as “Balakbuddhi” (teen-age wise) and said these people had talked of destruction of shakti when the whole nation worships shakti.

These people had talked of Hindu terrorism also. Their allies had compared Hindus with dengue and malaria. Referring to Mr Gandhi’s display of divine figures, Mr Modi said “never pradarshan (display) is done of those whose darshan (view) only is done.”

The Prime Minister said the policy of appeasement had destroyed the nation and before 2014, the nation was sunk in disappointment and had no hope. His government brought the policy of “santushtikaran” (satisfaction of all) in place of the “tushtikaran” (appeasement of a particular community), making the nation regain its self-confidence and hope that things could change in the country.

Mr Modi said his government by its policies brought 25 crore people out of poverty, ensuring the saturation of its welfare schemes by reaching all sections of people. The NDA followed the principle of Nation First and treated all people equally in a “sarvpanth sambhav” sentiment.