PM hails end of corruption

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “immense satisfaction” on Saturday with his government’s performance in the last two years, saying the NDA administration

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “immense satisfaction” on Saturday with his government’s performance in the last two years, saying the NDA administration clamped down on corruption that was once eating into India’s vitals like termites.

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“Corruption has stopped…not just for a year but forever…This is just the beginning. A new dawn,” he said at a star-studded event on the lawns of Delhi’s India Gate.

Modi said the NDA’s work should be evaluated against that of the previous government and cited a series of scams during the UPA regime to draw a contrast.

“It is obvious in the past 15 days that there is ‘vikaswad’ (development-ism) on the one side and ‘virodhwad’ (obstructionism) on the other. Between the two, the people can see the truth,” he said.

He listed a series of steps that ended corruption and saved money, including plugging leakages in cooking gas subsidy, rooting out fake ration cards, and scrapping fictitious teaching posts, among others. “Leakages worth Rs 36,000 crore have stopped,” he said.

“Some say you work so hard. Why do people oppose you? Modi has stopped Rs 36,000 crore that used to go into some people’s pockets. Modi gaali nahin khayega to kya (what else but abuses would Modi get?),” said the PM.

The government’s celebrations underscore the BJP’s impressive perfor mance in recently concluded assembly elections in four states.