Modi quoting Nehru's words 'great victory' for Congress: Chowdhury

Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday said the party has scored a "great victory" as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "compelled" to quote Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's words at the fag end of his speech.

Referring to the Prime Minister's reply on the motion of thanks to the President's address in the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury said, "I think we have scored a great success that at least the Prime Minister, who used to previously remain reluctant to recognise any Congress leader, was compelled to quote Nehru at the fag end of his speech. So, I think this was our great victory," he said.

The Prime Minister before concluding his over 65-minute speech in the Lok Sabha quoted an extract from a speech made by India's first Prime Minister Nehru in 1951 at the release of the Congress manifesto for the first Lok Sabha polls.

Modi said, "India has shown to the world that duties take precedence over rights. Rights flow out of duties. Can we take this thought forward articulated by a great man."

Attacking Modi, the Congress MP from West Bengal's Behrampur said that the Prime Minister in his own reply had disappointed the people.

"He in his own reply has disappointed the people of the country by not taking up issues concerning the people, right from agriculture to industry to unemployment and last but not the least Bihar's encephalitis situation where hundreds of children have lost their lives," Chowdhury said.

He said Modi resorted to "old evading tactics to hoodwink the common people", as if he was still in election mode.

"We expected that he would rise above the partisan issues and would be conciliatory in taking all along. This is the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha where we expected the Prime Minister to be statesmanlike so that it sets a tone for a constructive and fruitful atmosphere in Parliament," the Congress leader said.

( With inputs from IANS )