Narendra Modi. File pic/PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress saying the country has been suffering due to the "wrong" policies it has pursued since independence and that the party has spent time singing paeans to one family instead of focusing on people's welfare. Replying in the Lok Sabha to the motion of thanks on President's address, Modi also criticised the opposition party over bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, alleging that it did so only for "political" considerations without any preparation for which the people were facing hardships.

"When we speak about creating new states, we remember the manner in which Atal Bihari Vajpayee created Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. He showed how far sighted decision-making is done," the prime minister said amidst protests by Congress members who shouted slogans seeking
justice for Andhra Pradesh. Modi said whenever his government was criticised by select opposition parties, substance was lacking in their arguments as they would go back to saying -- "when we were in power".

"This is the same party that divided India. For decades, one party devoted all their energies in singing paeans to one family. The interests of the nation were over-looked just for the interests of one family," he said in his hard-hitting address. Modi says Partition was result of the Congress' wrong policies. "Not a single day has passed when the country has not suffered due to the poison sowed by you," he said.

Had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel been the first Prime Minister, a part of Kashmir would not have been under control of Pakistan, he said. The prime minister said opposition has the right to protest but not disrupt.

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