LUCKNOW: Setting the tone for the new narrative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a direct attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP) claiming it had earlier sprinkled ‘Itra (perfume) of corruption” which was now surfacing for everyone to see.
“The boxes full of cash were recovered a couple of days back. Everyone saw the mountains of currency notes. It is ‘their’ achievement. This is ‘their’ (SP) reality,” the PM said, addressing a large gathering after inaugurating the first leg of 9-km of Kanpur Metro Rail Project.
He questioned the “guarded silence” of the SP leadership over the cash seizure from the premises of a perfume and pan masala manufacturer linking him directly to the opposition.
“Why are they silent now when the boxes full of cash are being seized, whether it was also their work and will they draw credit for it?” he asked. “They have locks on their mouth and not coming forward to claim the credit...”
In Unnao, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was leading his Vijay Rath Yatra, tried to come clear of the controversy by denying any link with the tainted perfume trader. “Raids on Jain are not linked with Samajwadi Party at all. This incident shows that demonetisation has failed. Officials who conducted raids may tell the source of the recovered newly printed Rs 2,000 notes,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PM continued to attack the previous regimes over corruption and accused them of turning a blind eye to Uttar Pradesh’s development.
“Earlier, parties used to rule UP with the mentality of plundering it. Lottery lagi hai loot lo… pehle ki sarkaron ne UP ko khoob loota (they used to think that they had got the lottery to plunder the state),” he claimed while referring to alleged scams worth crores in previous regimes.
Reiterating the slogan — farq saaf hai (difference is clear) — coined by him, Modi again stressed on the might of the double engine government saying that when the public money was used for the benefit of people, the projects were delivered in time as the double engine government worked day in and day out ensure the delivery in time unlike the previous ones.