Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed demonetisation, claiming that the “maa-beta” from the Congress had to seek bail in a case because of the note recall and it had made the government flush with funds for development projects.
The Prime Minister had remained silent on the note ban on its second anniversary last week, leaving it to finance minister Arun Jaitley to defend the decision. Modi has broken the silence at a time fresh wounds have been reopened with many, including former governor Raghuram Rajan blaming the demonetisation for holding back the economy.
Addressing an election rally in Bilaspur of Chhattisgarh, Modi used the demonetisation to launch a frontal attack on the Congress, picking on the “mother-son” duo in an obvious reference to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Modi, without directly mentioning the National Herald case against Sonia and Rahul, said the “maa-beta” who are on bail should not give him certificate on honesty. He claimed that the demonetisation led to the unearthing of many shell companies, including “money laundering”.
“The mother-son duo who are on bail in a money laundering (case) are giving certificates to Modi on honesty. The mother-son duo should not forget that it was due to the demonetisation that several shell companies were busted and because of this, your company was caught,” Modi said.
Pointing out that how the Congress was using the demonetisation to attack him, the Prime Minister went on to claim that the note ban had pulled out corrupt money hidden under the bed and in sacks and made his government flush with funds.
In this context, he also referred to Rajiv Gandhi’s famous comment of Re 1 sent by the government in Delhi turning into 15 paise on the ground because of corruption and claimed that demonetisation had unearthed all that cash.
“People ask me how my government manages to do so much development work which previous governments failed to do? Where do you get the money from Modiji?” he said,
“This money was always there. This money is yours. It had been hidden under the bed and in sacks. The demonetisation pulled them out and now the money is being used for your development,” Modi said, pointing towards the crowd.
He then referred to Rajiv Gandhi’s comment without directly taking his name. A “third generation” Prime Minister of the “parivar” (family) had said that Re 1 sent by his government from Delhi gets reduced to 15 paisa when it reaches the people, Modi said.
“Which hand (the Congress’s poll symbol) used to siphon off the 85 paisa?” he asked. “The note ban has pulled out this 85 paisa,” Modi added. He said the people who were engaged in corruption were facing action under his government and out of frustration, they were trying to make fun of the different schemes of his government.
Appealing to the people to defeat the Congress, Modi said that had the party continued to rule Chhattisgarh, it would have taken 40-50 years to reach where the state had reached today in terms of development.
“Their politics starts and ends with the family,” he said. “Our politics starts from the poor people’s hut and we don’t rest till we bring about a change in their lives,” Modi added, seeking to portray the BJP as the only party committed to serving the people.