BENGALURU: Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on the corrupt are part of the Centre’s mission to put an end to corruption. Unfortunately, the Modi government is blamed for the good work it is doing under the anti-corruption law that has scope for imprisonment, Home Minister Amit Shah said here on Thursday. Replying to charges of 40 per cent commission by the contractors’ association president D Kempanna against Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Shah said the BJP has zero-tolerance for corruption.
He was addressing an event, ‘Indian polity: 65 year scenario and paradigm shift under PM Modi’ at Town Hall. “I don’t claim that corruption at the higher levels was completely done away with after 2014. But the Prime Minister has reduced corruption at various levels by using technology, as benefits are transferred directly to the bank accounts of the poor and farmers,” he claimed. Modi also checked corruption in donations to political parties, as more than Rs 2,000 cannot be given in cash, he added.
On the ‘hijab’ row, Shah claimed that in order to maintain cultural equality, there should be a dress code in schools, and applies to both hijab and bhagwa (saffron cloth). He clarified that opposition to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will not last long, as the NRC is not about withdrawing one’s citizenship but giving citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists living in neighbouring countries.
“The farm bills have been withdrawn so they can be implemented after taking the stakeholders into confidence,” he stated. In the last nine years, politics shifted from privilege to potential, as opportunities were not given on the basis of families, and budget allocations were not made to appease particular communities, he remarked. He advised voters not to vote only for individuals. “If you vote for an individual, you are likely to make mistakes... But if you consider both the party and leader, you are likely to select the right government,” he said.
Thrust for Bengaluru
Shah said the Centre will consider granting adequate funds to develop Bengaluru’s infrastructure,
as CM Basavaraj Bommai has submitted a proposal for comprehensive development of the city to the urban development ministry. The party has trained its sights on city constituencies, political observers said.
