Excerpts from the speech of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, delivered in a mix of Hindi and English, in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address

Rohith Vemula asked a question: ‘What is my fault? That I am a Dalit? Isn’t there a future for me in India? My mother is poor, am I not entitled to a future in this country?’ What did you do. You used the might of the state on him

Take action against those who committed anti-national acts. But I heard the 20-minute speech of Kanhaiya Kumar, he didn’t say anything unpatriotic. Sixty per cent students are Dalits, OBCs and minorities. Forty per cent of JNU parents have monthly income of less than Rs 6,000, why do you want to crush them?

We talk of religion. Where is it written in our religious texts that teachers and professors should be beaten up? Media was assaulted. But the Prime Minister did not utter a word.

Arun Jaitley has said here in the open House that Mr Modi’s fair and lovely programme is here which will allow you to turn black money to white (on the budget proposal for a “compliance window to declare undisclosed income”)

The Prime Minister just has to listen... to those around you, listen to Rajnath Singhji, listen to Advaniji, listen to Sushma Swarajji, listen to your MPs, listen to us across the aisle here — we are not your enemies; we do not hate you — listen to the voice of the Indian people.... Allow them the dignity of their voice

Arun Jaitley told me that there is no better scheme than MGNREGA (the job scheme pioneered by the UPA). I asked him ‘why don’t you tell this to your boss? Why are you telling us this? Tell this publicly. Why don’t you tell this to the Prime Minister?’ He didn’t say a word. People are scared.... Mr Narendra Modi is a very powerful man

You people (the BJP) know everything. And you people never make a mistake. We make mistakes. We listen to people. We don’t know everything. We learn. On one side, there is Gandhi, and on the other Savarkar. One uses violence, the other non-violence

(Reacting to protests from BJP benches) I just said Gandhi is ours and Savarkar yours. Did I say something wrong? Isn’t Savarkar yours? Have you dumped him? If you have, then you have done a very good thing

You have been taught by your teachers in the RSS that there is only one truth in the universe — your own — that nobody else’s opinion matters in the entire universe. This is all you have shown us in the last two years

Where has this (Naga) Accord gone now? It has vanished into thin air, it has gone, gone with the wind, bye-bye, accord!

(When pointed out that he had mistakenly called a male MP in the Chair “Speaker Madam”) Brother, I am not from the RSS. I make mistakes. I listen to the people, try to understand them and then speak in this House.