There was talk of an earthquake, but it never came: PM Narendra Modi

In his farewell address to the 16th Lok Sabha, PM Modi on Wednesday took swipe at the Congress, while listing out the performance of his government in the last five years.

"There was the talk of an earthquake, but it never came. We saw paper planes flying in the House. But the honour of democracy is so high that it digested everything," the Prime Minister said without taking Congress president Rahul Gandhi's name, who had said that there "would be an earthquake" if he speaks in the Parliament on Rafale jet deal.

Referring to the Congress president's hug and winking episode, PM Modi said that it was a "new thing" he witnessed as a first time PM. "I got to know the difference between gale milna (hugging) and gale parna (hounding). I got to know about aankhon ki gustakhiyaan (mischief of the eye)," he said.

The Congress chief was not present in the House when the Prime Minister was speaking.

Emphasising that India's confidence is now at an "all-time high", the Prime Minister said, "The 16th Lok Sabha will go down in the history as the House has enacted several laws against black money and corruption and cracked down on those who had defrauded the country and fled to other countries," the Prime Minister said delivering his last speech in Lok Sabha ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Stating that it was the first time in 30 years that a non-Congress govt had been formed with a majority, the PM said, "The credit goes to the 125 crore voters who voted for it."

Stressing that India's image has been "enhanced" globally, thanks to the electoral mandate enjoyed by the current dispensation, the PM called upon the citizens to vote for a "majority government" in the 2019 elections.

Emphasising that India today is the 6th largest economy in the world and is on its way to becoming a $5 trillion economy, the PM said, "There is a lot of confidence in the country now. Major organisations around the world are talking about India. We have now become the centre for economic activity."

"The world recognises a full majority government. It is now taken seriously because of the majority govt," he said.

Speaker Lauded

• The PM praised Speaker Mahajan for smooth conduct of House. “Eight of 17 sessions of this LS had over 100% productivity,” he said
• Overall productivity was recorded at over 85%. The 16th LS passed as many as 203 bills, including one on curbing black money