In his opening remarks to the extraordinary session of Parliament on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee as saying that while governments and political parties may come and go, the nation should remain.
He additionally highlighted the well-known address given to the Constituent Assembly in 1947 under the title “Tryst with Destiny” by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
In his speech, PM Modi said, “The echoes of Pandit Nehru’s “At the Stroke of Midnight” will continue to inspire us in this House. “Sarkarein aayegi-jaayegi, partiyan banegi-bigdegi, lekin ye desh rehna chahiye,” Atal ji had remarked in this very House. Even now, this still reverberates.
The Prime Minister mentioned Pandit Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Manmohan Singh as leaders who gave the country a new direction and added that this was the right time to celebrate their accomplishments.
He also mentioned Ram Manohar Lohia, Chandra Shekhar, Lal Krishna Advani, and other figures who have enhanced House debates and strengthened the voice of ordinary citizens.
The PM also recalled his feelings when he first entered the Parliament in 2014 as an MP. He said he knelt to worship the temple of democracy and could never have dreamed that a young person from a low-income home would be able to do so.
The Prime Minister stated that the Parliament building is connected to many happy and sad memories.