His statement comes amid allegations by leaders of the Opposition parties that the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is “misusing” central probe agencies to “target opponents” in election season.
The attacks by BJP’s rivals have stepped up after the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC K Kavitha, former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, and Income Tax department freezing bank accounts of Congress in connection with reassessment of party’s income.
PM Modi, while speaking to Hindustan, warned that his government’s action against corruption will continue, and will, in fact, intensify in his third term as prime minister.
“Eliminating corruption has been a key priority of our government for the last 10 years. We took steps to act against corruption at several levels immediately after forming the new government in 2014,” he was quoted as saying.
The prime minister further told HT: “I am committed to taking strict action against the corrupt. Steps are being taken even in states where the BJP is in power.”
The narratives you have heard, that it is only political corruption that we are after, are being circulated by people who are under the sword of investigative agencies.
“Let me tell you another fact which is not discussed much. Of the corruption cases probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), only 3% have people associated with politics. The remaining 97% cases are linked to officials and criminals. Action is being taken against them, too,” PM Narendra Modi further said.
He was quoted as saying that those who see benefits in a corrupt system are the ones who are crying foul and presenting the wrong picture in front of the people.
“The ED has also arrested many corrupt officers. Assets worth thousands of crores of corrupt bureaucrats, criminals linked to illicit funding, and drug dealers have been attached. Before 2014, the ED attached assets worth only Rs 5,000 crore, whereas in the last 10 years that amount has increased to more than Rs 1 trillion,” PM Modi explained amid Opposition attacks.
Elaborating on the work of central probe agencies before the BJP regime, PM Modi said, “Before 2014, the ED seized only Rs 34 lakh in cash, while under our government it has seized more than Rs 2,200 crore in cash.”
PM Narendra Modi asked people to image how many Indians would have benefitted and the opportunities created for youth, only if “this money was invested in welfare schemes for the poor”. “So many new infrastructure projects could have been launched,” he added.
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