Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Belagavi on Sunday to participate in the valedictory of the year-long centenary celebrations of the Karnataka Lingayat Education (KLE) Society.
Mr. Modi was welcomed by SSI Minister and district in-charge Ramesh L. Jarkiholi at a helipad in Belagavi. He inaugurated the centenary celebrations by lighting a lamp.
Mr. Modi urged the audience to keep patience during the days ahead. "I agree that there is pain because of my decision, but the country will gain more," said Mr. Modi. "I would like to tell honest people, do not give anyone dishonest people your money in haste, you have time till December 31 to exchange money. The government is bound till December 31 to give you the full worth of your money, exactly Rs 500, ie. Rs 499 and 100 paise worth of it," he said to cheers. "Give me 70 months, I will clean all the corruption in the country," he told the crowd.
"The cleanliness drive against black money commenced two years ago," said Mr. Modi. He started with smaller doses initially to tackle the 'nationwide disease' and a bigger dose on November 8 by demonetising Rs.500 and Rs.1000 denominations.
Mr. Modi called upon ten government and private universities each to strive to carve a place among the top 100 universities of the world and urged the youth to prepare for winning gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
The KLES Chairman Prabhakar Kore welcomed the Prime Minister and guests. Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers H.N. Ananth Kumar, Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ramesh C. Jigajinagi, Karnataka State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa, Pralhad Joshi, MP, and Suresh C. Angadi, MP, were present.
Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers H.N. Ananth Kumar released a book titled 'Eighth Rishi', a biography on the life and contributions of Prabhakar Kore in the expansion of the KLES.
B.S. Yeddyurappa hailed the Prime Minister's leadership, stating that Mr. Modi took a revolutionary decision by demonetising Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes. "This will effectively check fake notes flowing into the country from Pakistan and Bangladesh," said Mr. Yeddyurappa.
