In his first reaction to AgustaWestland deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that those found guilty in the helicopter scam would not be spared.
“My Government’s only objective is to help the poor and downtrodden in the country to lead a better life. It is their money which has been looted by a cartel of people and they have to be punished. Don’t you want them to be punishedIJ” asked the PM to the audience at an election rally in Hossur, Tamil Nadu. The answer was an overwhelming “Yes”.
“I don’t have any relations and friends in Italy. I do not know anybody in Italy. But a court in Italy rules that some people in the previous Government took money as bribes in the helicopter deal,” Modi said.
“What have I got to do with the verdictIJ Some people who are shocked with the court order have mounted an attack on me. What have I to do with this court rulingIJ” asked the Modi again. He asserted that his fight against corruption and nepotism would continue in spite of the attacks by certain parties on him,” Modi added.
Modi pleaded with the people of Tamil Nadu to elect BJP candidates to usher in a golden era for the State.
He listed before the electorate the steps initiated by the NDA Government at the Centre for addressing the problems and issues faced by the poor, downtrodden, farmers and Dalits in the country.
“For the first time in the history of independent India, we have a Government exclusively for the poor and the oppressed. We are sorting out the issues faced by the poor one by one. Some of the major achievements of this Government are helping poor farmers surmount the urea shortage which has been haunting them for years,” he said.
Modi said immediately after his swearing in as PM, he received letters from Chief Ministers of States and farmers about the severe shortage of urea. “Urea was being sold in the black market and farmers had to bribe officials to get their quota of urea. My Government put an end to the practice of corruption in the sale of urea. We have started distributing neem-coated urea which helped farmers bring down their cost of production as well as quantity of chemicals used in farm operations,” said the PM.
He told the audience how his Government gave up the practice of holding personal interviews to select applicants for Class III & IV categories in the Government service.
“Personal interviews were enmeshed in corruption. Applicants had to bribe agents and officials to get selected in the personal interviews.
Our Government enacted a law making it mandatory that selection to these posts is based only on the marks scored by the candidates in their qualifying examination. Now the job seekers need not force their parents to sell of their family property to bribe middlemen and officials to get a job,” pointed out Modi.
Modi said his Government would see to it that five crore families in the country which are dependent on wood choolas for their daily cooking are issued lPG stoves in the next three years. “More than a crore people in the country listened to my request and they opted out of the lPG subsidy scheme. These gas connections would go to the poor and needy. The next three years will see all the poor and needy households in the country get subsidised lPG connections,” said the Prime Minister. He also listed the slew of schemes launched by his Government viz, the Make In India, Start Up India, Stand Up India, Digital India and Mudra Yojana which are meant for the upliftment of the unemployed, the poor and needy and women in the country.
He had only one request to the people of Tamil Nadu. “If you want the benefits of the schemes launched by the NDA Government at the Centre to reach Tamil Nadu fast, please elect the BJP candidates,” said Modi.