Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who wound up his campaign for the Lok Sabha election at Besant Nagar here on Wednesday, said that if there was a university for teaching corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be the right choice for its Chancellor.
“The electoral bonds have exposed Mr. Modi’s true image. To save his image, he [Mr. Modi] claimed that the bonds paved the way for transparency in electoral funding. Why did you not come forward with the list of parties who received the funds when the Supreme Court demanded it? The issue is not about getting funds, it is about how you get it,” Mr. Stalin said.
He accused the Prime Minister of using the Enforcement Directorate, the Income-Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation to threaten and collect money (from various institutions). “These organisations would go for raids, which would be stopped once electoral bonds were released in favour of the BJP,” he alleged.
He further said: “The illegal dealings of the BJP have been exposed because of the Supreme Court. Though the country has seen many Prime Ministers, it has never seen a ‘collection king’ like Modi.”
Mr. Stalin further contended that Mr. Modi had even appropriated the money collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The people contributed generously since the Prime Minister sought donations to the PM Cares Fund. But we do not know what has happened to it. To a query under the RTI Act, the agency refused to divulge details [on the Fund] on the ground that it was a private trust,” the Chief Minister said.
Mr. Stalin further said that the government had not answered the question on the Rafale deal beneficiaries, and disqualified Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the post of MP since he had accused the government of favouring corporate houses.
He further said that there was a “made-in-BJP washing machine to clean corrupt politicians joining the party”. “Whenever there was a news that showed the BJP in bad light, the party would divert it by inciting communal violence,” he said, adding that though the BJP government had projected itself as guardians of spiritualism, it had increased the GST on camphor (used in temples) to 18%.
The BJP government imposed a 5% tax on incense sticks and 12% on wax candles, the Chief Minister said.
He alleged that the BJP government resorted to the evil act of freezing bank accounts of the Congress and Communist parties since it feared that a level-playing field would result in its defeat this election.
