Opposition has defiled the temple of democracy: Modi

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In a scathing attack on the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (February 5, 2026), Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that successive defeats inflicted by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on the Opposition were proving indigestible to it, but he had the support of the poor of India that any plans to “dig his grave” would not be successful.

Parliament Budget Session Day 7

Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Upper House, the Prime Minister referred to the absence of a reply by him in the Lok Sabha on the same debate, terming it a “defilement of the temple of democracy” and an insult to not just President Droupadi Murmu, her position, and her tribal identity, but the Constitution as well.

Opposition walks out

The Opposition benches staged a walkout at the beginning of Mr. Modi’s speech. Speaking about the achievements of his government, the Prime Minister said that much of it was to correct the mistakes of the previous governments, which were more focused on vote-bank politics rather than development.

Referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s appearance in the Supreme Court in the special intensive revision (SIR) case without directly naming her, he termed the Trinamool Congress-led government as nirmam or merciless, pushing for inclusion of “infiltrators rather than citizens”, whereas every country in the world was determined to stop infiltrators along their borders. “These infiltrators are taking away jobs meant for our youth, taking away Adivasi land,” he said.

He also deplored Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “traitor” comment on Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, and termed it an insult to the entire Sikh community. He added that the throwing of papers during Opposition’s disruption in the Lok Sabha at presiding officers in the House on Tuesday and Wednesday, belonging to the Dalit community of Andhra Pradesh (TDP’s Krishna Prasad Tenneti) and Assam (BJP’s Dilip Saikia) was an insult to both Dalits and Assamese.

Referring to slogans about “digging Modi’s grave”, he said that those who talk of ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’ (a shop of love used by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) are raising slogans like ‘Modi teri kabr khudegi’ (Modi we will dig your grave), which he said, highlighted the Opposition’s frustration over successive electoral defeats. “They will never be able to dig my grave, the blessings of the poor are with me,” he said. “The Congress thinks that the Prime Minister’s chair is reserved for the members of a particular family, they have been abusing me for 25 years, but the people of India, women, poor, farmers have blessed me, repeatedly,” he said.

Quoting from a speech by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi where she spoke of her problems being concomitant with the number of Indian citizens, Mr. Modi said that while “the Congress treated Indian citizens as problems, our government treated them as our strength and solution to challenges”.

The Prime Minister listed out the achievements of his government in the last 11 years, while asserting that high growth and low inflation reflect the strength in the country’s economy, which was set to emerge as the third largest in the world.

“The trade deals that we struck with nine countries and then the 27 countries of the European Union will open opportunities for growth, and in the changing world order it shows that the world is tilting towards India,” he said. “Amid uncertainty, the EU and later the trade deal with the U.S. has made the world feel more confident about stability,” he said.

Mr. Modi laid a big emphasis on his government’s implementation of projects, speaking at length of the PRAGATI project monitoring programme supervised by himself, stating, that projects worth ₹85 lakh crore had been speeded up and completed, including the Boghibeel bridge in Assam.

The speech lasted 97 minutes, and the Rajya Sabha, in the absence of the Opposition, passed the Motion of Thanks to the President, concluding the debate.