Nothing new in PM Modi's speech, he's repeating old things: Sonia Gandhi

New Delhi: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said there was "nothing new" in Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s speech in the Lok Sabha and that the people were interested in knowing about their future and jobs.

"The Prime Minister said nothing new. He is repeating old things, (but) people are interested about their jobs. They want to know about their future," Gandhi said, as per IANS.

PM Modi on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the Congress party in Parliament, accusing it of serving the interest of just one family and yearning for an "old India" - an era marked by "a series of scams".

I thank friends on social media for their kind words on the speeches in Parliament today. Your blessings are indeed special and cherished. https://t.co/WJnUoGnIjx — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 7, 2018

In a speech that was made amidst continuous slogan shouting by Congress members in the Lok Sabha and later a largely uninterrupted Rajya Sabha, he took on the Congress for its various omissions and commissions in its more than five decades of rule and taunted the party over its demand for a "Gandhian India".

"I am also in favour of Gandhian India because Congress-free Bharat was the idea of Gandhi ji," he said in the Rajya Sabha. He was speaking in both the Houses of Parliament in reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address which was adopted without any amendments by the two Houses.

He accused the Congress of having a "small mind" and fostering one family's legacy at the country's cost and said there was "festival of honesty" under his government with people knowing they will get an account of the tax they pay.

PM Modi argued that the Congress had no right to give lessons on democracy and should not "mislead" the country on the issue of employment generation. He said Congress-led UPA was fully responsible for the NPAs of banks and the country will never forgive the party for its "sin".

PM Modi also sought to reach out to the middle class, which is seemingly feeling squeezed by the tax proposals in the Union Budget, saying the government was bringing about ease of living through good governance, improving education, infrastructure and housing. 

Referring to unemployment, he said four Opposition-ruled states - West Bengal, Karnataka, Odisha and Kerala - had claimed to have generated one crore jobs. "Will you not treat it as employment," he said, adding that unemployment was posed as a national problem and the answer has also to be in a national perspective. 

PM Modi said the aspirational youth from the middle class were keen on setting up their own enterprise than on jobs. "We should support their aspirations," he said, adding that the NDA government has given 10 crore Mudra loans.

(With IANS inputs)