“During their (UPA) tenure, investigative agencies were used for political purposes only,” he said

New Delhi:

Amid the continuous attack by the leaders of the Opposition over actions taken by the central agencies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took a jibe, saying that the crackdown by the agencies are only against corruption.

PM Modi, while speaking in the Lower House of Parliament during a debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, attacked the opposition over their ‘outcry’ over the action by the central agencies.

“They express their anger… I understand their pain, and their problem because it has hit the bull’s eye (teer nishane par laga hai). The agencies are taking action against corruption. Earlier, the entire time of the House was spent on discussing scams and corruption. There was a constant demand for action, there were only reports of corruption everywhere. Today, when action is taken against the corrupt, these people create a ruckus in their support,” he said.

He also said that the cases of money laundering were registered in his regime twice as many as earlier.

“During their (UPA) tenure, investigative agencies were used for political purposes only. Let me shed some light- Under the PMLA, we registered twice the cases than earlier. During the tenure of Congress, ED confiscated properties of Rs 5,000 crore only. However, during our tenure, the ED has confiscated properties worth Rs 1 lakh crore. You will have to shell out the plundered money…,” he said.

PM Modi further said that it has become very difficult for middlemen to rob the poor due to his good governance.

“DBT, Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar, mobile… we have recognised its power. We have transferred more than Rs 30 lakh crore directly into people’s accounts. Earlier, a Congress Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) had said that if we send Rs 100, only 15 paise reaches the poor, but now, there is nothing like that,” he added.

PM Modi also came down heavily on the previous Congress government over the issue of inflation and said that the grand old party has powered inflation whenever it has been elected to Centre.

“Two songs on inflation were superhits in our country – ‘Mehngai Mar Gayi’ and ‘Mehngai Dayain Khaye Jaat Hai’. Both of these songs came during Congress’ governance. Inflation was in double digits during UPA’s tenure, it can’t be denied. What was their government’s logic? Insensitivity. They said – you can have expensive ice creams but why do you cry about inflation?…Whenever Congress came to power, it strengthened inflation.”

He also said that his government has kept inflation under control.

“We have kept inflation under control in spite of two global wars and once in a lifetime pandemic,” asserted PM Modi.

PM Modi, in his address, criticised the Congress over a range of issues, including unemployment, issues of OBC, dynastic politics, and its approach as the opposition party.

He also quoted the late PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech, saying that he felt Indians were not as intelligent and hard-working as the Europeans.

Quoting late PM Indira Gandhi, PM Modi added that she felt that whenever the country was progressing, people were involved in self-interest.

“They were wrong about Indians, but they were right about the Congress party. Congress’ mindset is that it has never trusted the capabilities of the country. It considered itself rulers and the public as someone lesser, someone smaller…” he added.

PM further said from “every word of their speech, I and the country are now convinced that they have resolved to sit for a long time in the opposition”.

“I really commend the resolution of the opposition. From every word of their speech, I and the country are now convinced that they have resolved to sit for a long time in the opposition. The way you sat here (in government) for many decades, the same way you resolve to sit there (in opposition),” he said.

About sixty speakers took part in the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address in Lok Sabha. The Budget Session commenced on January 31 and will conclude on February 9.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)