The process of new political polarisation and formation of new alliances that the nation witnessing now is the fallout of the war on corruption unleashed by the Central investigation agencies on certain politicians, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
Addressing BJP workers who had thronged the Cochin Airport to welcome him on his arrival at Kochi for a two-day visit, the PM said the new combination is an attempt to save those enmeshed in corruption and those facing corruption probes.
“It is the anti-corruption steps initiated by the Centre that has resulted in some political parties scurrying for cover and new polarisation. In my speech to the nation from Red Fort on the 75th anniversary of Independence Day, I mentioned about the uncompromising war against corruption. This has upset corrupt leaders who are busy forming new permutations and combinations of political alliances,” said the PM.
Modi said the nation is on a new path of progress and development. “The NDA Government at the Centre is setting up medical colleges in each district of the country. This would help the youth of the nation in getting trained as doctors and nurses,” he said.
Modi recounted the massive investment made by the Centre in Kerala to speed up connectivity and infrastructure development.
“Kerala has been allocated 2,00,000 houses under the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana and I am happy to declare that 1,30,000 houses have been completed under this scheme. 36,00,000 poor patients in the State have been benefited by the Ayushmaan Bharat Scheme. All village panchayaths in the State would soon come under optical fibre connectivity and high speed internet,” said the PM.
Later in the day, Modi paid obeisance at the Adi Sankara Temple and the Keerthi Sthampa at Kaladi built by the Sringeri Mutt and Kanchi Mutt respectively.
K Narayanan Namboodiri, the local historian, said Modi is the second PM to visit Kaladi after Morarji Desai who had paid a visit to the holy shrines in 1978. Kaladi is the village where Adi Sankara, the great sage, was born.
The PM dedicated to the nation the newly laid Metro Rail stretch of the Kochi Metro and inaugurated the electrification of a stretch of the Chenganoor-Kottayam Rail Line. On Friday morning, the PM would dedicate to the nation INS Vikrant, the indigenously built aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy.