Corrupt Oppn parties snubbed by court: PM
The PM expressed regret over the lack of cooperation from the state government leading to delays in development projects
Hyderabad
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lashed out at “dynastic and corrupt forces” obstructing development in the country, even as he hailed his government for prioritising the aspirations of the people.
Addressing a gathering in Secunderabad after inaugurating projects worth ₹11,360 crore in Telangana, the PM also expressed regret over the lack of cooperation from the state government, which he said led to delays in projects.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, the PM said, has attacked the real root of corruption of dynastic forces who want to keep their control over every system.
“Should we fight against corruption or not? Should we fight against the corrupt or not? Should the country be liberated from corruption or not? Should legal steps be taken against the corrupt however big or not. Should the law be allowed to work against the corrupt or not,” he asked the gathering.
“A few days ago, some political parties went to court to seek protection so that no one opens their [account] books of corruption. But the court gave them a shock and dismissed their plea,” Modi said in a jibe aimed at opposition parties, led by the Congress, which recently approached the Supreme Court alleging a rise in the use of coercive federal investigations by the Centre against political opponents.
The plea followed the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case and subsequent disqualification as a member of Parliament.
The Supreme Court, however, refused to entertain the plea, observing that politicians do not have “higher immunity”.
The PM said that dynastic politics and corruption are intertwined. The dynasts want to keep their control over every system, he said.
“This proved their three intentions. One, their family should flourish; two, money earned through corrupt practices should keep coming to their family only; and three, the money that is sent for the poor should be useful for distribution in their corrupt ecosystem,” he said.
Citing the example of digital payments and the direct benefit transfer (DBT) system, the PM said that dynastic forces earlier did not want to relinquish control over the financial systems of the country.
“We have brought the system of digital payments across the country and promoted digital currency. This had never been contemplated in the past, because the parties encouraging parivaarvaad (family rule) did not want to lose control over the system,” Modi said.
“Telangana needs to be very alert against such people,” Modi said. The state is set to go to polls later this year.
Expressing regret over the lack of cooperation from the Telangana government on projects undertaken by the Centre, Modi said it was hampering the progress of the state.
“I appeal to the state government to not allow any obstruction in development being planned for Telangana people. Please speed up the developmental works in the state,” he said.
Chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao skipped the PM’s events in the state on Saturday. The BRS leader has stayed away from the events of Modi during the latter’s visits to the state for over a year now.
On Saturday, state animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav represented the state government at the PM’s reception at the Begumpet airport.
Speaking to reporters, Yadav attacked Modi for criticising the ruling BRS and its chief KCR, and challenged him for a debate. “We are ready for a debate on what the BRS government had done for the development of Telangana and what role the Centre had in the development,” the minister said.
Modi said due to the Covid pandemic and the continuing Russia-Ukraine war, the world was witnessing ups and downs in the economy, but amid this uncertainty, India was one of the countries that was investing record amount on infrastructure modernisation.
“An amount of ₹10 lakh crore was allotted for infrastructure modernisation in this year’s budget,” he said.
Even in Telangana, the PM said, the highway network has increased. “In 2014, there was about 2,500km long national highway here, which has increased to 5,000km today,” he said.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express train between Secunderabad and Tirupati at the Secunderabad Railway station. Secunderabad is the headquarters of South Central Railway zone.
The Vande Bharat train will reduce the travel time between Secunderabad and Tirupati in the neighbouring state by almost three and half hours and will be particularly beneficial to pilgrims.
In the past nine years, a metro network of about 70km has been built in Hyderabad, Modi said. Work has also progressed rapidly on the Multi Modal Transport System (MMTS) project in Hyderabad. “For rapid expansion of MMTS, ₹600 crore has been kept for Telangana in this year’s Union budget,” he said.
The Prime Minister laid the foundation stones for projects including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Bibinagar.