Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that he would not scale down his attack on black money and corruption and promised to unearth more black properties and black investments in the future.
Addressing well-attended election rallies at Kullu, Palampur and Una in Himachal Pradesh, Mr. Modi said the people of the country would reply to hoarders and blackmarketers who plan to observe November 8 as a black day for the Indian economy, a day of national mourning and burn his effgies.
“Modi is not scared by these forces and would seek a proper explanation of their deeds of the past 60 years,” he said, hinting at patronage for the corrupt from the Congress over the years.
Mr. Modi accused former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of not going for a note ban when needed, alleging that she kept her party’s interests over that of the nation. The Prime Minister said he would not have had to carry out this big task had she taken the step.
Stating that over three lakh companies had shut down after demonetisation, Mr. Modi said a probe into 5,000 such firms had found a fraud of ₹4,000 crore while investigations against others were on.
Reminding the Congress of the famous statement of its “Mr. Clean” Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi that out of one rupee [of government grants] only 15 paise reached the poor, he said the Congress’s ‘doctor’ diagnosed the disease but failed to offer any treatment.
Referring to the Congress election symbol, the hand, Mr. Modi said, “He [Rajiv Gandhi] also did not mention who was siphoning off the remaining 85 paise from the central grants.”
“By linking the Aadhaar number with Jan Dhan accounts we would now ensure that 100% of grant should reach the poor,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr. Modi reiterated that the Himachal Pradesh elections are a one-sided affair and said he was not enjoying the campaign in the absence of an opponent. The Congress has conceded defeat already and no central leader is coming to defend its government here, he said again.
Mr. Modi said previous BJP Chief Ministers like Mr. Shanta Kumar would be remembered for providing clean drinking water and Mr. Dhumal for laying a massive road network in the hill State. He then asked the crowd what the incumbent Chief Minister would be remembered for and was answered with a shout of “for corruption”.
Refuting the State government’s claim of a 100% electrification, Mr. Modi said there are still 14,000 households in Himachal and four crore across the country who were without electricity would now be provided power free of cost.
Prime Minister also declared that there would be “housing for all” project by the year 2022 and all those without shelter would have their own homes. The government, he claimed, had already saved 60 to 70 thousand crore by switching over to LED bulbs.
