Fighting big battle against corrupt, won’t be intimidated by attacks: PM at Meerut rally

MEERUT, MAR 31: Lashing out at the opposition INDIA bloc, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the attacks on him will not stop the fight against corruption and action will be taken against those involved in graft irrespective of their status.

Launching a scathing attack on the opposition bloc a few hours after their mega rally in Delhi on Sunday, the PM called it an electoral battle between the “enemies of corruption and patrons of it.”

“Modi will not be stopped. Action will be taken against every corrupt person,” he said while addressing a massive rally in Meerut, the gateway to western UP where PM Modi sought support for BJP and RLD candidates of Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Bijnor and Meerut.

Slamming the opposition, PM Modi said that while his government was going ahead with fight against corruption, the opposition leaders got unnerved and huddled to stitch INDIA Alliance thinking that they would thus intimidate him.

 “They thought Modi will be scared. But it strengthened my resolve to go against the corrupt more than before. India is my family and I have nothing to fear about,” said the PM.

In a veiled attack on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, arrested over Delhi excise policy scam recently, the PM said some leaders were behind bars owing to NDA government’s fight against corruption. “They are not even getting bail from the Supreme Court… Some people are rattled by this action and they have come together under the umbrella of the INDIA bloc.”

He also added that, “… I am not just probing the corrupt. It is my guarantee that whoever has looted the people of my country, I am returning the stolen wealth of my people back to them.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during an election campaign rally ahead of Lok Sabha polls, in Meerut, Sunday, March 31, 2024.

Congress ‘callously gave away Katchatheevu’ to Sri Lanka, can’t ever trust it: Modi

Launching a direct attack on Congress, he said that during the Congress regime thousands of crores of rupees of poor, small investors, and banks were wrongfully confiscated and usurped. “We have confiscated the property worth Rs 17000 crores from corrupt people and returned it to those who had lost it,” he claimed.

He said that his government had waged a war on corruption in the last 10 years. “The government removed as many as 10 crore illegal beneficiaries, in whose name resources and public money was swindled by the previous governments. In the process we have saved 2.45 lakh crores,” he said.

Raising the issue of Katchatheevu island at the rally accusing the Congress of ceding the island to Sri Lanka callously in 1974, Modi said: “Another anti-India conduct of the Congress has been unveiled today. The island of Katchatheevu, which lies between India and Sri Lanka and is extremely significant from the perspective of national security, was given away by Congress after independence. For them it was a wasteland. Today, fishermen in Tamil Nadu are suffering due to Congress policies. As they proceed near the island they get arrested. India is still paying for the misdeed of the Congress government”.

Meanwhile, sharing the stage with Rashtiya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhury, for the first time after RLD joined NDA, the PM was all praise for his grandfather and former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh who was conferred with Bharat Ratna recently and Jayant received it at a ceremony in Rashtrapait Bhawan on Saturday evening.

“The INDI alliance, which hates farmers, did not give due respect to Chaudhary Sahab. They even tried to heckle Jayant when he stood up in Parliament to speak over the conferment of the highest civilian award to Chaudhury Sahab, thus insulting him,” said the PM.

While presenting a report card of the 10-year’s NDA rule including Ram Mandir, scrapping of Article 370 in J&K, law against triple talaq, the PM claimed that his government was has already prepared a roadmap for the next term. “Work is going on rapidly on what major decision we have to take during the first 100 days,” said the PM adding that the last 10 years were just a trailer of the development in the country.

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, Haryana CM Naib Singh Saini along with veteran actor Arun Govil of TV serial ‘Ramayan’ fame, who is the BJP candidate in the Meerut Lok Sabha seat, were present at the rally.

-PTI