Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi over the Rafale issue and made a strong pitch for electing a majority government in national interest, as he addressed the 16th Lok Sabha for the final time on Wednesday, 13 February.
Modi said the House did not witness any earthquake, in apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi’s claim that his revelations on Rafale would create ‘tremors’.
“We heard that there would be tremors. The five-year tenure is coming to an end but we did not witness any tremors.”Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Taking a swipe at Gandhi, who was not present in the House at that time, the prime minister referred to the Congress president's hug and winking episode, saying it was a new thing he witnessed as a first-time member of Parliament.
“I got to know the difference between hugging and getting on someone’s nerves. I got to see some playful looks.”Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Modi also claimed India had been suffering globally due to fractured mandates, but that it was now being taken seriously because of the majority government, he said.
The 16th Lok Sabha passed 203 bills out of 219 introduced, including one on curbing black money, said the prime minister, adding that 1,400 obsolete legislations were repealed by the House.
Modi also said that the 16th Lok Sabha witnessed the largest number of women MPs who participated in the proceedings.
That’s even as the Cabinet Committee on Security has two women members, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, he said.
“Eight of the 17 sessions of this Lok Sabha had over 100 percent productivity,” he said, adding that the overall productivity was recorded at over 85 percent.
The prime minister also thanked Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav for his "blessings" after Yadav said that he wished Modi would return as prime minister.
(With inputs from PTI)
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