Will step up action against the corrupt during 3rd term: Modi
DEHRADUN/RUDRAPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), particularly the Congress, stressing that action against the corrupt will be intensified in the third term of the BJP government.
Modi echoed comments he had made last week on Sunday – days after several Opposition leaders attacked the government for allegedly using federal agencies to target the BJP’S political rivals amid a spate of cases and arrests by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Speaking at a poll rally in Rudrapur in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, Modi attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remark suggesting there would be a “conflagration” in the country if the BJP gets a third term. He also told the crowd that there are two groups contesting the 2024 elections. “One side is us, honest and transparent. On the other side, corrupt and dynastic people have gathered. They are insulting and threatening Modi. We are saying, ‘remove corruption’. They are saying, ‘save the corrupt’. But people in the country have given a call, and I listen to this call. Modi is not afraid of their insults and threats. Action will continue against the corrupt. In the third term, action will be intensified. Corruption affects people, and I won’t allow that. This is Modi’s guarantee.”
Modi said the INDIA bloc had shown its anti-democratic face ahead of the elections. “They are saying if the country chooses the Modi government for the third term, the country will be set on fire. Do you agree with this? Will you allow this? Is this the language of democracy? Clear them one by one, don’t let them stay in the field. The Congress is now provoking people. It is pushing the country into instability and anarchy. Those who want to break this country, shouldn’t they be punished?”
During the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on Sunday, Gandhi said: “If the BJP wins these match-fixed elections, and changes the Constitution, the whole country will be on fire. Remember this.”
Modi said that had Congress not sown weakness in the system, nobody would have dared to encroach upon India’s territory along its borders. “In the ocean near Tamil Nadu, there is an island which was given to Sri Lanka by Congress. If Indian fishermen go near it, they are arrested. Can Congress ensure the protection of the country? Congress had stopped the development of border villages. BJP treated them as first villages and ensured their fast development. Had Congress remained, ex-servicemen would not have got One Rank, One scheme,” he said.
After the public meeting, Modi also held a roadshow in Rudrapur.
Hitting back, state Congress vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana said Modi is levelling “baseless allegations against INDIA bloc, especially Congress, to divert the attention from key issues”. “Today, the people of Uttarakhand wanted to hear the truth from him, not misleading statements.”