'Garibi Hatao' biggest 'jumla' in India's history: PM Modi in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the biggest ‘jumla’ in the history of India was ‘Garibi Hatao’, a slogan given by former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Replying to a two-day debate in Lok Sabha on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, Prime Minister Modi said there is a word the Congress likes a lot, which led some opposition MPs to say “Adani”.

“Their most favourite word, without which they can’t live, is ‘jumla’,” Prime Minister Modi said.

Jumla is a Hindustani term that refers to a rhetorical statement devoid of sincerity. The Congress and other opposition parties have attacked the BJP by deriding the promises made by the prime minister and the ruling party as “jumla” on several occasions. The opposition has also taken swipes at the BJP by dubbing it “Bharatiya Jumla Party”.

“Our friends in the Congress use this term day and night. But this country knows, the biggest ‘jumla’ in India, which has been used by four generations, is ‘garibi hatao’,” the prime minister said, referring to the popular slogan given by Indira Gandhi.

Garibi Hatao Desh Bachao (remove poverty, save the country) was the theme and slogan of Indira Gandhi’s 1971 election campaign.

“It was a ‘jumla’ which helped them politically, but did not help the poor,” Modi said.

“Can someone tell, should people not even have toilets? The movement to build toilets has been started by (my) government,” he said and listed various pro-poor steps undertaken by him.

“You have seen the poor and poverty on TV and newspapers, you do not know what poverty is,” Modi said in a dig at opposition leaders.