First Time In A Decade, No Attempt From Abroad To Stoke Trouble: PM

New Delhi: It is perhaps the first time since 2014 that no attempt has been made from abroad to "stoke a fire" in India before the start of a Parliament session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. Ahead of Parliament's Budget session, Modi also took a swipe at opposition parties, saying that there were people abroad ready to do mischief before every session since 2014 and there was also no dearth of those here who would fuel such attempts.

"Shayad 2014 se lekar ab tak, ye pehla Parliament ka satr hai, ki jiske ek-do din pehle koi videshi chingari nahi pakdi hai, videsh mein se aag lagane ki koshish nahi hui hai (Perhaps since 2014, this is the first session of Parliament in which a day or two before the session, there has been no foreign attempt to stoke a fire from abroad)," Modi told reporters before the start of the session.

"This is the first session I am seeing in the last 10 years in which there has been no attempt to stoke a fire from any foreign corner," the prime minister said. With his government tabling its first full-fledged budget on Saturday in its third term, Modi said he prayed that Goddess Lakshmi, who is associated with wealth, will bless the poor and middle class. He expressed confidence that this Budget session will infuse new confidence and energy in attaining the goal of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047.

He said his government has been working in mission mode in its third term for an all-round development and asserted that innovation, inclusion and investment have shaped its economic agenda. Modi said many historic bills will be taken up during the session and will become laws after comprehensive debate to strengthen the country.

"Particularly, important decisions will be taken during the session to empower women to ensure they get equal rights and any sectarian or faith-based discrimination is removed," he said. Modi also expressed confidence that every MP, especially the young ones, will contribute to the agenda of 'Viksit Bharat' during the session. Stressing on the mantra of 'Reform, Perform and Transform', Modi said fast-paced development has to be achieved and the maximum emphasis is on reform. He said the State and Central governments have to perform together and one can see transformation through public participation. "Ours is a young country... the youth of 20-25 years of age today, when they will be 45-50 years-old, they will be the biggest beneficiaries of a developed India. At that stage of their age, they will be sitting in that place in the policy making system... they will proudly move forward with a developed India," Modi said. Hence, this effort to fulfill the resolve of a developed India, this immense hard work, is going to be a great gift for our teenagers, our young generation, he said. "Those who had joined the freedom struggle in 1930, 1942... the entire youth generation of the country was engrossed in the freedom struggle, and the fruits of that were reaped by the generation that came after 25 years," Modi said.