From '35 crore problems' to 'jeep vs mule': How PM Modi used Indira Gandhi’s speeches to slam Congress in Rajya Sabha

PM Modi

• PM Modi used Indira Gandhi's speeches to criticize Congress's governance approach.
• He highlighted Congress-era planning flaws using the "jeep vs mule" anecdote
• Modi highlighted past delays vs. his government's swift, future-ready policies.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday invoked former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s own speeches in Parliament to mount a political and ideological attack on the Congress, arguing that the party historically viewed citizens as “a problem” rather than partners in development.

Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, PM Modi referred to a remark made by Indira Gandhi during an overseas visit, where she recalled her father Jawaharlal Nehru once saying his “35 crore problems” were the people of India, the country’s population then.

PM Modi used the quote to suggest a longstanding disconnect between Congress leadership and public sentiment.

In her published speeches, Indira Gandhi had said, “Nothing in India is simple or small. When asked how many problems he had, my father once replied, ‘350 million', which was our population at that time.” She went on to describe the scale of governance challenges in a rapidly expanding democracy, linking them to development pressures rather than dismissing citizens themselves.

Planning commission and the “jeep vs mule” anecdote

PM Modi also cited Indira Gandhi’s own criticism of India’s planning machinery to question the effectiveness of the Congress-era Planning Commission. Quoting her well-known “jeep versus mule” anecdote from Himachal Pradesh, Modi argued that the system acknowledged its shortcomings but failed to reform.

In her speeches, Indira Gandhi had narrated how officials refused funding for mules for hill workers because the policy allowed only jeeps, even where there were no roads. “Jeep or nothing,” she recalled the Planning Commission insisting, using the example to underline bureaucratic rigidity and the need for practical governance.

PM Modi said such instances reflected a structure that was aware of ground realities yet trapped in inflexible policies. The Planning Commission, established in 1950 under Jawaharlal Nehru, was dissolved in 2014 and replaced by NITI Aayog under the current government.

From past delays to present pitch

Extending the argument, the Prime Minister linked past planning inefficiencies to infrastructure delays, citing the Sardar Sarovar Dam as an example of projects that took decades to complete due to procedural hurdles and policy inertia. He contrasted this with what he described as his government’s emphasis on “future-ready policies” and faster execution.

While Indira Gandhi’s original speeches often stressed adaptability, public involvement and selective adoption of global models suited to India’s needs, PM Modi framed those very acknowledgements as evidence of systemic failure under previous regimes.