Terror funding, drug trafficking destroyed by note ban: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a ‘Parivartan Maharally’ in Dehradun on Tuesday. (UNI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a ‘Parivartan Maharally’ in Dehradun on Tuesday. (UNI)

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DEHRADUN, Dec 27:
Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi’s charge of helping big corporates and the rich, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his Government is focused on working for the poor and asserted that demonetisation has destroyed in one stroke black money, terror funding as well as human and drug trafficking.
Targeting parties who are opposing the note ban, he claimed some people are upset as his decision has struck the “ring leader of thieves”.
Addressing BJP’s ‘parivartan maharally’ in poll-bound Uttarakhand, Modi appeared to rebut Rahul’s charge when he said that while the UPA government’s move to raise the number of subsidised cylinders from 9 to 12 was projected as momentous, his government gave gas cylinders to five crore people below poverty line.
“18,000 villagers were living in 18th century without electricity… In thousand days, we have electrified 12,000 villages. Work on remaining 6,000 is on. Is this working for rich or empowering the poor,” he said.
With the decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, the black money stored in cupboards and under mattresses is now coming to banks and to the people, he said, adding he is fulfilling his duty of a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) to get rid of black money and “dark hearts” which have ruined the country.
“In some, corruption is in the blood. They used back door to convert the money and thought Modi cannot see.
“But we knew and now they are being caught,” he said referring to various raids by law enforcement agencies on black money hoarders.
Describing note ban as a “cleanliness drive”, he thanked the people for standing by him. He also said the move is aimed at empowering the people and to give them a bright future.
“I am fighting to make the honest empowered,” Modi said adding that his November 8 decision has dealt a devastating blow to black money and terror funding.
The decision is not being liked by some people as he has struck directly at the “ring leader of thieves” (choron ka sardar), the Prime Minister said.
Referring to the demands for ‘One Rank, One Pension’ by personnel of the armed forces, Modi said the party and the family which has ruled the country for over 40 years did nothing on the issue till the eve of 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Uttarakhand is among the various States which sends thousands of youth to serve in the armed fores.
He said ahead of the general elections, UPA allocated a mere Rs 500 crore “fearing that Modi, who has a special love for soldiers, may come up with something”.
The PM said the OROP entails an expenditure of Rs 10,000 crore plus which his Government readily gave in installments.
He said the personnel understood his plight that giving the entire sum in one go was not possible and they agreed to take it in installments.
Noting that development was his Government’s only objective and he was working consistently towards that goal, he said the fight against corruption and black money launched on November 8 with demonetisation was a step towards empowering the country’s honest people.
“Did you give me the huge mandate in 2014 to cut ribbons and lighting ceremonial lamps only at inauguration ceremonies?
“Didn’t you vote me to combat and end corruption. Shouldn’t we fight the evil with all our might?”, he asked.
Making a reference to the alleged scam in relief funds in Uttarakhand, he said even a scooter with a capacity of five liters of oil could drink 35 liters of it.
“Five or 50 people cannot drag Uttarakhand out of the bottomless pit of corruption it is in.
“It needs a double engine of the BJP for the huge effort, one in Delhi and the other in Dehradun,” he said, asking them to install a BJP Government in the State after 2017 elections and give the party an opportunity to build an Uttarakhand envisioned by Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had created it.
Terming the project as a tribute to the thousands of devotees from all over India, who perished in the 2013 natural disaster in Uttarakhand, Modi said the all-weather roads will not only generate new employment opportunities for the youths in the hills but also enhance the sense of security of people coming to visit the chardham.
Modi said it will give a boost to tourism by removing all fear from the minds of visitors bound for the Himalayan shrines about their safety along the disaster prone route in all sorts of weather.
He said the project has been conceived with the help of international consultants so that there is no disruption along the route in any season.
Explaining the delay in launching the project, Modi said he wanted to do something real for the development of the state and was not interested in doing politics or putting up a false show in the name of inaugurating development projects as was being done by some political parties.
He said a lot of preparation and study in consultation with international experts has gone into working out the blueprint of the all-weather road project to the four famous Himalayan shrines located in the state.
The Prime Minister highlighted the steps taken by his government to provide free LPG connections to poor BPL households and helping women lead a healthy smoke-free life in the remote hill areas of the state.
He also spoke of what he had done for the implementation of OROP and his campaign against corruption and black money and sought the blessings of the people of the state in his fight against graft.
Happy to see the impressive turnout at the Parade Ground, Modi said he had addressed people at the same venue just before 2014 Lok Sabha polls in which he was the Prime Ministerial candidate but the crowd this time was even larger.
“Last time when I came here only half the ground was full. But look at the mandate you gave us. You voted all our party candidates to victory, grounding big shots. This time the crowd is even larger. What are you up to?” he said to loud cheers from the audience.
Earlier, a short documentary on the project was also screened at the venue in the presence of the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Harish Rawat and a host of BJP leaders including Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ajay Tamta, former party CMs Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank besides Pradesh BJP president Ajay Bhatt and tehri MP Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah. (PTI)

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