Meerut: Kicking off the BJP's campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday targeted the Opposition over corruption while promising the return of embezzled funds to the people.
Battle on against corruption
We are engaged in a battle against corruption…. I am not just investigating corrupt, I am guaranteeing return of ill-gotten wealth to people of country. — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Working on roadmap for 5 years
PM asserted preparations for NDA government's third term have already started. “We are making a roadmap for coming five years. Work is going on rapidly on major decisions to be taken in first 100 days. In past 10 years, you have seen only the trailer of development, now we have to take the country much further,” he said.
“Modi will not be stopped. Action will be taken against the corrupt,” he said in an apparent reference to recent arrests, including that of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged excise policy scam.
The PM asserted those who had unjustly taken from the nation's coffers would have to return every penny. “They are not even getting bail from the Supreme Court, after this some people are rattled and they have come together under the umbrella of INDI Alliance,” the PM said.
Responding to criticism from the INDIA bloc over the arrests of Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Modi doubled down on his anti-corruption stance, saying: “We are engaged in a battle against corruption to safeguard funds meant for the poor from being siphoned off by middlemen.”
“I am not just investigating the corrupt, I am guaranteeing the return of ill-gotten wealth to the people of my country,” he added.
Modi attacked the Congress over its decision to hand over the strategic Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in the 1970s, accusing the party of “weakening” the country's integrity and interests, saying the island was extremely important from the perspective of national security.
Setting a target of winning 400-plus seats out of 543 in the LS, Modi kick-started NDA's campaign by addressing his first public rally in this Muslim and Jat-dominated town. “The fight against corruption has resulted in the formation of an alliance and some big politicians who have been arrested for corruption have failed to get relief from the SC. The arrests have left some people desperate,” he said, while affirming they would not bow down to corrupt individuals.
Eyeing support from Hindu voters following the construction of Ram Temple, the BJP has fielded in Meerut veteran TV actor Aruni Govil, who essayed Lord Ram's role in television epic ‘Ramayan', replacing three-time MP Rajendra Aggarwal.
The rally was organised a day after prominent farmer leader from this region and former PM late Charan Singh was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, which was received by his grandson and RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary, who recently left the INDIA bloc to join NDA.
“The INDI Alliance, which hates farmers, did not even give due respect to Chaudhary Charan Singh. Even, when Jayant stood up to speak in Parliament regarding the country's top civilian honour, an attempt was made to stop him, to humiliate him,” Modi said, adding the Congress and SP should go door-to-door and apologise to farmers.
Earlier, Jayant, who has fielded his candidates from Baghpat and Bijnor seats, thanked Modi for giving Bharat Ratna to his grandfather and vowed to strengthen the NDA.
Modi urged people to vote for the NDA candidates from Kairana, Birnor, Baghpat, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar saying their vote would decide the future of the country.
