The prime minister said all those attending the recent opposition conclave in Patna are facing corruption charges. The fear of imprisonment is uniting them
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Cornered by a united Opposition on several pressing issues including the volatile situation in Manipur, inflation, unemployment, polarisation, and the increased pandering to the Hindu majoritarian psyche, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chose to mount an all-out attack on the recent conclave of Opposition leaders in Patna.
Rattled by the Opposition unity and the problems it may create for the ruling BJP in the ensuing general election, the prime minister belittled his rivals saying that despite their divergent views on several crucial issues they were uniting only to escape imprisonment.
Hitting out at his political rivals, the prime minister said all those attending the recent opposition conclave in Patna are facing corruption charges. The fear of imprisonment is uniting them, Modi said.
Addressing a public rally at Motilal Nehru Stadium in Bhopal, Modi said a new word has been created — guarantee, and termed it as “corruption and scams.”
“Their (Opposition) guarantee is corruption and scams. Each leader present in the meeting has a ‘guarantee’ of scams of Rs 20,000 crore and the Congress itself has a ‘guarantee’ of scams of several lakh crores. Some of them are out on bail and are sharing their jail experiences,” media reports quoted Modi as saying.
“They (Opposition leaders) are in fear that they may have to go to jail. This is the only reason that they are trying to mislead people ahead of the elections,” Modi pointedly said responding to a question raised by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker.
He said that if the Opposition has a ‘guarantee of corruption’, he has the ‘guarantee of sending all of them to jail.’
“Today, I am also giving one guarantee to the people of India. People who are involved in corruption will be sent to jail. Those who have cheated poor people and have minted huge sums of money for their personal benefit will face tough action from the investigating agencies,” the prime minister said.
Modi said the BJP would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics. He also said those supporting triple talaq were doing grave injustice to Muslim daughters.
Strongly vouching for Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Modi said that our Constitution guarantees equal rights to all citizens of India. “Will a family function if there are two different sets of rules for people? Then how will a country run? Our Constitution too guarantees equal rights to all people. Even the Supreme Court is pushing for a common civil code. But some vote-hungry leaders are misleading the people,” Modi said.
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Photo: IANS