Constitutional bodies fighting corruption under attack, says PM Modi

When investigation and enforcement agencies act against those wrapped in corruption, these agencies are attacked, says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at an event the BJP head office in New Delhi on March 28, 2023. Photo: Twitter/@BJP4India via PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a scathing attack against what he termed conspiracies by forces within and outside the country to undermine constitutional institutions and bodies in the country that were cracking down on corruption and the corrupt.

Addressing BJP leaders and cadre at the inauguration of the new extension of the party headquarters in New Delhi, Mr. Modi said India’s march towards development and a strong governance agenda was based on a foundation of constitutional institutions, but that these were being attacked and attempts were being made to defame these institutions.

“Today, when India is on its way to realise its full potential, it is doing so on the basis of a strong foundation. That foundation is our constitutional institutions. That is why, to stop India in its growth trajectory, this foundation is being attacked and efforts are on to defame them by forces within and outside country. A campaign is on to defame these institutions, their credibility is being sought to be finished. When investigative and enforcement agencies act against those wrapped in corruption, these agencies are attacked, when courts give verdicts inimical to such people, courts and the judiciary are attacked,” he said.

‘Shaken the roots’

“All of you are watching that some parties are busy in a ‘save the corrupt’ campaign. Today, all those who are tainted by corruption are getting together on the same platform. The whole country is watching. Corruption has harmed the country a lot, like termites it has hollowed out the country, the people of the country is also seeing how previous governments handled action against corruption as a mere formality, and how in the last nine years, the campaign launched by the BJP against corruption has shaken the roots of both corruption and the corrupt,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s speech was alluding to accusations against his government of vindictive action against political rivals, and his response included data on the action taken in corruption cases. “Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act [PMLA], during the UPA government’s tenure of 2004-2014, around ₹5000 crore was recovered due to action against corruption, however, during the nine-year tenure of the BJP government, we have recovered ₹1,10,000 crore, we have filed twice the number of cases, and arrested 15 times the number of people in the past on corruption-related charges,” he said.

Mr. Modi added that under the UPA, ₹22,000 crore was the amount that was looted from banks and the perpetrators had fled abroad, but that under the BJP government, ₹30,000 crore had been recovered by seizing the property of these perpetrators. He also said that many corrupt government officials had been shown the door and cases against them pursued.

The sharp attack by the Prime Minister came as Parliament continued to see a face-off between the BJP and the Opposition over the Adani issue and the disqualification of former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi after he was convicted in a case of criminal defamation by a court in Surat.

‘Resolve, commitment’

The extension of the BJP’s national headquarters, which includes a research centre, a residential building for party leaders and workers and a massive auditorium, Mr. Modi said, reflected the growth trajectory of the BJP. “We are the party that had the courage of our convictions to even dissolve our party to help fight the Emergency as a united front, we did not lose heart after the debacle that the party faced in the 1984 polls where we got only two seats, instead we went to the people, and it is the strength of our resolve and the commitment of our party workers that has taken us this far,” he said. He added that the BJP is not a party that arose from newspaper headlines, the shine of a television screen, twitter handles or YouTube channels, but “because we as a party have aligned ourselves with society and its concerns,” he said.

Mr. Modi termed the BJP the only pan India party at this time and lauded party workers for the expansion of the BJP’s political footprint across the country. He especially mentioned the recent victories of the BJP in the three north-eastern States and said the BJP was still the “number one” party in poll-going Karnataka.