New Delhi, March 28
Exuding confidence in the ruling BJP’s victory run with “people’s constant blessings”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India was shining on the world stage and it was natural for anti-national forces to come together and strike at the foundations of a rising nation — its democratic and constitutional institutions.
Addressing a mammoth gathering of BJP leaders, union ministers, MPs and workers on the occasion of inauguration of the party’s new office in the national capital, Prime Minister Modi said the ongoing unprecedented assault on corruption had angered some people who had united to launch “Bhrashtaachaari bachao andolan” but added that the fight against graft will not stop.
The PM was publicly speaking for the first time since Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in London on India’s alleged democratic decline and the ongoing opposition offensive following Gandhi’s Lok Sabha disqualification upon conviction in a defamation case.
“Today if any country has made its mark on the global stage it is India. It is natural for anti- India forces to unite. These forces want to steal from us the potential of Amrit Kaal in which we are destined for fast-paced development. That is why these forces are striking at our foundation — our democratic, constitutional institutions,” said the PM with the Congress questioning the harshness of Rahul’s defamation sentence and several Opposition leaders crying vendetta overED raids.
In veiled jibes at the larger opposition, the PM said a campaign had been unleashed to defame India’s institutions and undermine their credibility.
“When probe agencies act against the corrupt, the agencies are attacked. When courts pronounce orders, the courts are attacked. Judicial processes are assaulted.
Some parties have united to launch bhrashtachaari bachao abhiyaan,” the PM said, asking BJP cadres to be ready to fight graft, family based parties, communalism, casteism and anti-India forces at every step.
Noting that the fight to build a developed India by 2047, when the country marks its centenary, “will not be easy”, the PM said, “Today all corruption-ridden faces have assembled on one platform. But the country is watching. Corruption has eaten into our vitals like termites. And this fight is not going to stop. Wherever I go, people tell me — Modiji do not stop,” the PM said to loud applause, as he positioned the BJP in terms of the “only national party devoted to building a modern and developed India.”
Listing actions against graft, the PM said the government’s drive had shaken the roots of the corruption and the corrupt.
“When BJP comes, corruption runs,” he said, adding that under thePrevention of Money Laundering Act, where Rs 5000 crore worth of assets were attached under ten years of UPA rule, Rs 1,10,000 crore had been attached in nine years of NDA government.
“Two times more cases and 15 times more arrests have been made under PMLA in our government,” he noted, adding that Rs 20,000 crore worth of properties of loan defaulters had also been attached.
The PM said the CBI alone had lodged 5000 cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the NDA government’s nine years and corrupt officials had been forced to retire and face action.
“For the first time since Independence, this kind of assault has been launched on corruption and people are very happy. When we do all this, it is natural for some people to feel angry, and vent out that anger. But neither will the country bend to their false allegations nor with action against graft stop,” the PM cautioned in an oblique attack on the opposition parties that have united following Gandhi’s conviction and sentencing for defamation.
