NEW DELHI: With just nine days to go for the first phase of polling in the high stakes Gujarat Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he’s ready to pay the political price for undertaking reforms to root out organised corruption in the country.
Making a strong case for demonetisation and rollout of Goods and Services Tax as two key reform measures, Modi, while addressing the HT Leadership Summit here, said organised corruption would substantially come down in the country when transactions go digital. “I know what political cost I may have to bear for such steps, but I am ready,” Modi said.
The PM sought to hard sell the government’s achievements after coming to power in 2014, saying the extent of financial inclusion of the poor through Jan Dhan, besides social security with the help of accident and life insurance, had empowered and secured the marginalised sections of the society.
Apparently seeking to push his image of a crusader against corruption, the Prime Minister claimed that corrupt ways were the norm of the country, with black money having a stranglehold in every area.