Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dismissed allegations that the Centre dropped cases against opposition leaders after they joined BJP, saying that the courts are examining such matters independently and the issue of corruption must not be taken lightly.
In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, PM Modi said that there was a time when even an accusation of corrupion would shake up the system but now convicted leaders are seen waving in public and getting their photos clicked.
The remarks were an indirect attack on several opposition leaders, including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who have been jailed on charges of corruption.
Asked about an analysis by The Indian Express that cases against 23 of 25 opposition leaders who joined BJP were either shelved or dropped, the Prime Minister asserted that "not one case has been dropped".
"Whatever the courts decide will happen. They are independent. Second, how many such cases pertain to the political leadership? Only 3%. Even big bureaucrats are in jail. After all, why were these agencies formed? If these agencies were formed with a purpose, won't they fulfil that? Our courts are supreme anyway … The courts must be examining it," he said.
The Prime Minister added that matters of corruption should never be taken lightly.
"There was a time when even accusations would shake things up. And today, even after conviction and punishment, some are waving and having their photos taken. Are they glorifying corruption? This should be criticised. Corruption shouldn't be treated as a new normal. Otherwise, it will hurt the country a lot. This is not about BJP vs others," he said.
PM Modi also expressed concerns over corruption being normalised in the country.
"I see that slowly an environment is being created where it is being thought: 'Oh, that's alright. That happens.' [But] Poor people are dying. We have to rid the country of corruption. That should be the country's resolve," he said.
The Prime Minister added that policy-driven changes such as adoption of technology and making people more aware can help reduce corruption.
"Earlier, a prime minister used to say a rupee goes [towards the people] but only 15 paise reach them. Today I say when a rupee goes out, the full 100 paise reach - Direct Benefit Transfer. How? By improving the system! We launched the GeM portal, a big step towards reducing corruption. Second, we have to awaken society. Let society also be made conscious that corruption cannot be tolerated at any level. That environment is getting created in the country. But political people are not afraid. Someone would support them [the corrupt] just because they would want to oppose us. This is not correct," he said.
During the interview, the Prime Minister also rubbished Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the BJP cannot win the Lok Sabha election without the aid of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and electronic voting machines (EVM).
Earlier, Rahul had accused the PM of trying to do "match-fixing" in the Lok Sabha polls. He had said if the BJP wins the election through this endeavour and changes the Constitution, then the whole country would be “finished”.
“The answer to the EVM claim has been given by the Supreme Court of the country. In 2014, they had ED and CBI, so why did they lose? They even put my Home Minister in jail, then why did they lose?” the PM told News18.
He questioned why the Congress did not win the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when it had CBI and ED at its disposal.
“You cannot fix the election of such a big country, even for a municipality you can’t fix this. Try it. Is this fixing possible? They are just fooling the world. The sad thing is that instead of asking those people, the media asks us,” he said.
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