Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched a scathing attack on the Congress while speaking on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
"Whatever we call our achievement the Congress promptly says that it is its achievement. In fact, I would say we came to power because of the Congress. Had you done good work the people of India would not have removed you and brought us here in your place," she said amidst applause from the Treasury benches.
The No-confidence Motion: The Complete Coverage
"Had the opposition not brought forward the motion, we would never have got the opportunity to tell the people of our achievements. And for this we need to thank you."
In the beginning of her speech she trained her guns of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
"Mr Speaker, Sir, yesterday Mrs Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress, like a good lawyer started her speech by levelling charges against our government on nine counts... Madam, (Gandhi) we do not plead guilty to any of the charges," she said.
Introducing the motion on Monday, Gandhi had accused the government of, among other things, endangering the security of the country and using the 'cross-border terrorism' phrase to divide people.
There was pandemonium in the House when Swaraj listed major expansion in the field of telecommunication as the first major achievement of the government.
"In the first fifty years till 1998, only 1.86 crore telephone connections had been provided by all the previous governments. Telephone was a luxury. People used to plead with members of Parliament to get them out-of-turn connections. In the last five years we have given over 3 crore connections. Phones have now come from houses of the people to their pockets. We now have to request people to switch off their mobile phones whenever a programme is about to begin," she said.
Amidst uproar, she said the government, within three months of assuming power, had facilitated uplinking of 77 television channels from India. Earlier, these channels were constrained to uplink from places like Hong Kong and Thailand.
At this point Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav asked her when vulgarity on TV would end and she said it was a different issue.
According to Swaraj, the government had given credit cards to 2.70 crore farmers, who received loans to the tune of Rs 55,000 crore.
Referring to Congress member Satyavrat Chaturvedi's charges against the government, she pointed out that from 1970 to 1998, people were given Rs 10,390 crore to build houses.
From 1998 to 2003, Rs 14,047 crore was disbursed as loan and consequently, 50 lakh houses were built, she said.
Rebutting charges of hunger levelled by Chaturvedi, she said 1.50 crore families below the poverty line were given wheat at Rs 2/kg and rice at Rs 3/kg.
Responding to Gandhi's charge that the government had done nothing in the health and family welfare sector, Swaraj said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had decided to construct six hospitals along the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Swaraj also gave a strong reply to the Congress president's charge that the government was dreaming like Mungeri Lal (a TV character who used to build castles in the air).
"I would like to say that it is only in India that a man living in a hut can dream of becoming a member of Parliament. Lal
Bahadhur Shastri was born in an ordinary house but he rose to become prime minister. Likewise, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, son of a schoolmaster, has become prime minister. Madam, to become big one has to dream. No astrologer would have told Rabri Devi that she would become chief minister of Bihar one day. Mungeri Lal represents India's self-respect... and is the symbol of our national esteem," she said.
She panned Gandhi for alleging that India was working under pressure from foreign powers and that it had lost its independence in foreign policy.
"Can a nation that is under American pressure undertake nuclear tests in Pokharan? When the then American president, Bill Clinton, learnt about the tests he turned red with rage and imposed economic sanctions against India. The same US president visited India and praised the Indian government led by Vajpayee. India's reputation has gone up in the international community. Our prime minister attended the G-8 meeting as a special invitee recently. Is it not an example of our independent foreign policy?" she asked.
