Headlines
Modi targets Congress, says he understands farmers' pain
Bengaluru, April 3
Assuring the people that
his government will live up to their expectations, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Friday accused the previous Congress-led UPA regime of
not having right intentions and causing distress to farmers.
Addressing
a rally here on the first day of the Bharatiya Janata Party's national
executive meeting, he sought to dismiss opposition's criticism of the
land acquisition bill while listing achievements of his government since
it assumed power in May last year.
Referring to his own humble origins, Modi said he fully understood the pain of farmers and the poor.
Without
naming the Congress during his over-hour-long speech, he attacked it
repeatedly, while stressing his government was taking quick decisions to
ensure faster economic development.
Noting sometimes a
government's intentions were more powerful than its policies, he said
his government had been facing criticism that it was following the
United Progressive Alliance government's policies, but the question was
of intentions.
"Whatever your policy, your intention was not right, ours is. Hence we have gone ahead in the race of development," he said.
Accusing
the opposition of spreading falsehoods on the issue of black money, he
said his government had taken several initiatives to curb black money
including forming a special investigation team and bringing a bill in
parliament on illegal money stashed abroad.
"I have made you a
promise to curb corruption. I will fulfil it," he said, adding there was
an atmosphere of despondency during 10 years of UPAs' rule but now
things had taken a positive turn.
"It seemed the country had
deviated from its direction...At such a juncture, the people of country
expressed their faith in Bharatiya Janata Party and gave it a chance to
serve them with full majority."
"The faith with which you have posed in our team, we will fulfil it and prove good on every parameter."
Modi
said over Rs.200,000 crore had already come to the public exchequer due
to auction process for coal blocks followed by his government,
Noting
this was realised from auction of only 20 blocks out of the 204 whose
allocation was cancelled by the Supreme Court, he said: "When the others
will be auctioned, how much more money will come."
Referring to
the controversy faced by UPA in spectrum allocation, he said over
Rs.100,000 crore had come to the exchequer due to auction of spectrum
during his government.
On the land bill, Modi said there had been
injustice with villages during years of Congress rule and the farmers
needed irrigation, roads and uninterrupted power supply.
"I am a
man who is connected to the ground," he said, adding he had spent his
life among farmers and the poor and "understood their pain fully".
Claiming
farmers were forced to sell their land to pay bribes for lowly
government jobs for their children, he asked: "They had been forced to
pay bribes. Should they get protection or not."
Modi also said his government had taken several initiatives to boost agricultural productivity.