PM says family-run parties biggest threat to democracy, slams Congress

New Delhi: Family-run parties are the biggest threat to India's democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he launched an all-out attack on the Congress and held it responsible for several ills confronting the country.

Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the president's address in the Rajya Sabha, he said the people of the country had to wait for many years to get basic facilities like water, power and roads because of the the Congress.

As the opposition party, too, the Congress is creating hurdles in the country's development, he alleged.

He also accused the Congress of being in the grip of urban Naxals, who are today controlling its thought and ideology. That is why, the prime minister added, the grand old party has become negative. "The Congress in a way is in the grip of urban Naxals. That is why its thought has become negative."

Modi suggested that the opposition party change its name from Indian National Congress to 'Federation of Congress'.

He said when a family is paramount in a particular party, the biggest casualty is talent.

He also attacked the Congress for sacking over 50 state governments of several parties during its over 50-year rule at the Centre.

Taking a jibe at the Congress, the prime minister said that if there was no Congress, there would be no Emergency, no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred and Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened.

"It was said here, 'Congress na hoti, toh kya hota'. It's a result of the thinking, 'India is Indira, Indira is India.' I think 'Congress na hoti, toh kya hota' because Mahatma Gandhi wanted. He knew what will happen if they continue to be and he wanted to disband them beforehand," said PM Modi.

"Had Congress ceased to be, as per the wish of Mahatma Gandhi, democracy would've been free from a dynasty. India would've walked on the path of national resolutions, instead of taking to foreign view," he said.

"Some members asked- if there was no Congress, what would happen... I would like to say, if there was no Congress there would be no Emergency, there would be no caste politics, Sikhs would never have been massacred, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits would not have happened, if Congress would not have been there, there would've been no incident of daughters being thrown in 'tandoor'," he added.

The Prime Minister said that defeat and victory happen, but don't impose your frustration on people.

He said the democracy and debate are ongoing for centuries in India but Congress never thought beyond a dynasty.

"The difficulty being faced by Congress is that they never thought of anything else before the dynasty. We'll have to accept that the biggest threat to India's democracy is the dynastic parties. When a family is the supreme in any party, then the first casualty is that of talent," PM Modi remarked.

"It was said in Parliament that Congress laid the foundation of India. Some people feel India was born in 1947. This democracy is not the outcome of your efforts. You strangulated democracy in 1975," PM Modi added.

"When the family is supreme in the party, then the first casualty is talent," he added.