Flagging the issue of corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took an indirect swipe at the Opposition Congress over its allegations of corruption made by against him in the Rafale scam, saying that the Supreme Court – through its clean chit to his Government — had given a “befitting reply” to the litigants who had approached the court over the alleged irregularities in the fighter jets purchase deal.
Without actually naming the Rafale deal, Modi broke his silence for the first time over the Supreme Court’s verdict in the much-discussed fighter aircraft purchase case, Modi said: “Hamare yaha ek psychology rahi hai ki jab sarkar ke khilaf aarop lagate koi adalat me jata hai, to mana jaata hai ki sarkar ghalat hogi aur aarop lagane wala sahi hoga. Yeh aamtaur pe manyata hai, ghotale ho, bhrashtachar ka aarop ho, ye mansikta hamare man me ghar kar gayi hai. Kyuki humne yahi dekha hai pehle’ (It has been our psychology that whenever some goes to court with allegations of corruption, we presume that the Government is in the wrong and the people making allegations are right. That’s we have to come tom accept. That’s what has been our mindset when it comes to scams or allegations of corruption. Because, we have seen these things in the past”.
“Lekin ye pehli bar hua hai jab kuchh, sarkar par bhrashtachar ka aarop lagate hue desh ki sab se badi adalat gaye aur adalat ne unhe do took jawab mila hai ki jo kaam hua hai, woh paardarshita se hua hai, imaandari se hua hai. Humare desh me aisa bhi hoga, char saal pehle kisi ne nahi socha tha (It has happened for the first time that some people moved the country’s highest court with allegations of corruption against the Government and the court gave a befitting reply to the litigants concerned that whatever work that took place happened in a most transparent and honest manner. No one would have imagined four years ago that such a thing can happen in this country)”, the Prime Minister said.
Modi also took an indirect pot shot at the Nehru Gandhi family on the issues of the issues of extradition of Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam from Dubai and the life sentence handed to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar sentenced to life in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case by Delhi High Court.
“No One thought four years ago that one day we would be able to bring Christian Michel to India to face trial in the AgustaWestland chopper scam. No One thought four years ago that one day that a Congress leader would be sentenced in the 1984 Sikh riots case. We are the same country. We have the same bureaucracy. We have the same infrastructure. But what is the change in the situation we are witnessing today?” Modi asked.
In his key note address at the Republic TV summit here, Modi listed his Government’s achievements during the last four and a half years and said that the country was witnessing the change which was a strong representation of “Surging India” wherein the Government was moving forward with “Policy-driven governance” and “Predictable transparent policies”. “As a result, we are constructing highways, doubling of railway lines twice the pace of the work executed earlier. We have constructed more than 100 airports and heliports in the country. We are completing the projects which had remained pending for the past 30 to 40 years,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said that four years ago, no one would have imagined that India would be surging towards becoming a five trillion dollar economy and rising up the ranks in the ease of doing business from 142 in 2014 to 77 in 2018. “We are moving fast to get into the under 50 bracket in the world in terms of ease of doing business,” he said.
Referring to the rapid pace of infrastructure development taking place in the country, Modi said that his Government had – through reviews undertaken at the monthly PRAGATI meetings which he chaired – had reviewed projects worth Rs 12 lakh crore which had been pending for years on end and was speeding up these works.
“Go to any part of the country, we can get to see sign boards mentioning Rs Work in Progress’. The importance of these sign boards is indicative of the fact that “India in Progress”. We are not just constructing highways, flyovers, metros etc. But, what is happening is building of a new India. The city (Mumbai) that I am in today is often described as a Rs city that never stops’.Speaking from this city, I would like to say that Rs India is a country that never stops’. India has made up its mind that neither would it stop nor would it slow down,” the Prime Minister said.