"Some Are Hurt After Losing Election For A Third Time": PM In Lok Sabha

The Opposition is back in strength in parliament, determined to make themselves heard. And they chose to do it today, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to respond to the Motion of Thanks for the President's address. The ostensible reason was the PM's speech came as a representative from the violence-hit state wanted to speak.

As a few MPs started protests to Speaker Om Birla's refusal, the matter was taken up by the rest of the Opposition MPs and soon the Lok Sabha chamber rang with boos and slogans.

As the Prime Minister started speaking the MPs stepped it up with louder slogans and table thumping. Chants of "Manipur, Manipur", "Tanashahi nahin chalegi (We won't allow dictatorship)" and "Justice for Manipur" rang out, drawing angry reprimand from the Speaker, to the Leader of the Opposition.  

"I can understand the pain of some people. Even after spreading lies, they tasted defeat," the Prime Minister said after several stops and starts.

"The people of India have given us the opportunity to work for the third time. People have given us a mandate. They saw our track record of 10 years. 25 crore came out of poverty. This never happened since the independence," PM Modi said.

In the expected hard-hitting political message, the Prime Minister also spoke of minority appeasement, alleged corruption during the UPA government, Jammu and Kashmir and surgical strikes against terrorists -- all amid the loud Opposition protests in the background.

The contrast to Congress's Rahul Gandhi's fiery speech yesterday -- replete with repeated objections and angry outbursts from the Prime Minister and his ministers, could not be sharper.

As PM Modi continued, the volume of protests increased. Admonishing the Opposition, Mr Birla said, "Yesterday, I allowed you to speak for 90 minutes. No one stopped you. This is no way to behave," he said. Then, as an afterthought added, "Paanch saal aise nahin chalegi (We cannot have five years of this)".

This was not the first time Opposition protests had interrupted a Prime Minister in the House.

In 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not introduce his Council of Ministers due to protests by the BJP.

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