As the INDIA bloc leaders gathered at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi Sunday, days after the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a no-holds-barred attack on the Opposition, saying its leaders were trying to “save the corrupt” at a time when he was waging a war against corruption.
Addressing a well-attended rally in Meerut, Modi said “action will be taken, no matter how big a person the corrupt may be”. He said his fight against corruption had made the Opposition lose its senses.
“Modi’s mantra is bhrastachar hatao (remove corruption); they (Opposition leaders) say bhrashtachari bachao (save the corrupt). On one side is the NDA and on the other a khema (camp) to save the corrupt. You have to decide. Should the corrupt be saved? Should corruption be removed or not?” he said.
“When Modi is fighting corruption, they have made an INDI alliance. They think Modi will be afraid. But for me, Bharat is my family.”
“The corrupt are behind bars today. Many very corrupt people are having to appear in courts. Sometimes from inside beds and walls and sometimes from inside a washing machine, wads of currency notes are being found. I am not just acting against the corrupt; I am also returning money to the poor. We have attached properties and this has returned Rs 17 lakh crore looted from the poor. If I find records on whose money was looted, I will return it,” he said.
“Listen, corrupt leaders: attack Modi as much as you like. Yeh Modi hai, jhukne wala nahin hai (This is Modi, he won’t bend),” he said.
“Action will be taken, no matter how big a person the corrupt may be. Those who have looted the nation, unko lautana hi padega (they will have to return it). Yeh Modi ki guarantee hai (this is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.
Targeting the Opposition over an issue that he said involved India’s territorial integrity and security, Modi attacked the Congress for having ceded the island of Katchatheevu in 1974 – India gave up its claim to this island in the Palk Strait during the rule of Indira Gandhi as part of a maritime agreement with Sri Lanka.
He linked it to the plight of fishermen from Tamil Nadu and other southern states whose boats get impounded by Sri Lanka. He wondered whether such political parties could be trusted with national security.
The rally – Modi said this was the third time he was launching the Lok Sabha campaign from Meerut since 2014 – doubled up as a rally of NDA parties from UP, with Jayant Chaudhary of RLD, Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal, Om Prakash Rajbhar of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and Sanjay Nishad of Nishad Party sharing the stage with Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and BJP’s Meerut candidate Arun Govil.
The rally was dedicated to the memory of Chaudhary Charan Singh, grandfather of Jayant Chaudhary. The late Prime Minister was posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna by President Droupadi Murmu Saturday.
Jayant Chaudhary said that in his latest brief conversation with Modi, he saw the PM’s concern for farmers.
In his speech, Modi listed his government’s achievements – from the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam on reservation for women – and promised a developed India in the near future.