'Modi was selective, didn't talk about rights given to people during UPA'

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "selective" in his speech in Parliament and did not talk about the rights given to people during the Manmohan Singh government.

While acknowledging that the prime minister said some "very good things" in his speech and spoke well, Tharoor said there had also been failures under his prime ministerial tenure such as when demonetisation happened, there was no discussion in Parliament.

Prime Minister Modi lauded the vision of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and subsequent leaders, including Lal Bahadur Shastri, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but also reminded the Lok Sabha of the 'cash-for-vote' scam during the Manmohan Singh government.

Reacting to the prime minister's speech, Tharoor said, "He (Modi) said some very good things but he also did not say some things which he should have said. Our country has had many successes and failures and he chose according to his will, that is fine I would not criticise that."

"But the rights given to people during the Manmohan Singh government such as the Right to Information Act, food security, MGNREGA, he did not mention any of it," Tharoor said.

"There have also been failures under his prime ministerial tenure such as when demonetisation happened was there a discussion in Parliament. So if you are selective in what you speak about, we can also be selective," he said.