Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 8 took a sarcastic jibe at the Congress after party president Mallikarjun Kharge released a “black paper” against the Centre over its failures in the last 10 years.
PM Modi referred to the Congress’s ‘black paper’ as ‘kaala teeka’ (to ward off the evil eye) amid good work being done by his government. “I thank (Mallikarjun) Kharge ji for doing this honour today,” the PM said.
The Rajya Sabha bid farewell to 68 retiring MPs, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance. While lauding the contributions of his predecessor Manmohan Singh to the House, PM Modi targeted the Congress for its ‘black paper’.
In the ‘black paper, Congress president Kharge said that the last 10 years were a period of “injustice” with issues such as rising prices, unemployment, subversion of institutions, and “discrimination” against non-BJP states plaguing the country.
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PM Modi said, “When the country is touching new heights in the last 10 years, we take it as ‘kala teeka’ to help ward off the evil eye.”
PM Modi further said Kharge being an elder has put this ‘kaala teeka’ for the good work being done by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the country’s progress.
The prime minister also referred to the black robes earlier worn by Opposition MPs in the House as a mark of protest. “We also saw a fashion parade in the Rajya Sabha when some members came in black clothes,” the PM said.
Meanwhile, in the 54-page “charge sheet” — referred to as ‘black paper’, Kharge indicted the Centre ahead of the government’s tabling in Parliament of a ‘white paper’ on the “mismanagement” of the economy before 2014 to draw lessons.
Referring to Modi’s 90-minute reply to the Motion of Thanks on President’s Address in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Kharge had said, “He (PM Modi) didn’t mention the employment generated by the public sectors like HAL, BHEL which were established during Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s tenure.”
With agency inputs.
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Published: 08 Feb 2024, 03:55 PM IST