Tamil Nadu has been ruined by corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday even as he appealed to the voters to liberate the State from the clutches of the two main Dravidian parties which have kept it under their control for decades.
Addressing an election rally in the coastal town of Vedaranyam, Mr. Modi said that wherever the BJP got an opportunity to rule, the focus was on augmenting infrastructure, creating job opportunities for the youth and providing education.
Appealing to the electorate to vote for development, Mr. Modi said that the poor did not aspire for bungalows or vehicles but just for a decent house, clean drinking water, uninterrupted power supply and health care.
“Until corruption is eliminated, the benefits of development will not reach the poor,” he said adding that those involved in the past scams, including the 2G scam, were in Tamil Nadu. “These people had looted the country,” he said seeking support for BJP candidates contesting in the delta districts of Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur.
Important decisions to stem corruption had been taken by the Centre, he said citing the ‘Pahal’ scheme for providing subsidy directly to the bank account of LPG consumers.
The Centre had come out with a comprehensive scheme for developing the coastal areas across the country and improving the economic status of the fishing community, he said.
Listing out the slew of schemes introduced by the BJP government including the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme, Mr. Modi said the avowed goal of the Centre in the year 2022 when the country attains 75 years of independence was to double the income of the farmers. Union Minister Pon. Radhakrishnan and BJP national general secretary Muralidhar Rao also spoke.
‘Until corruption is eliminated, benefits of development will not reach the poor’
