Lashing out at Congress and other parties for criticizing government’s decision to demonetise Rs ₹ 500 and ₹ 1000 notes, PM Modi said his decision is a little “karak” (strong). He was drawing an analogy with his early days as a tea vendor.
Prime Minister said “My decision is a little ‘karak’ (strong)” —referring to the demonetisation move to uproot corruption.
“And when I was small, people would tell me, ‘Make the chai a little karak’ (make the chai a little strong),” he said. Modi has said he used to sell chai at railway platforms when young.
He added the demonetisation of ₹ 500 and ₹1,000 currency was to target those with unaccounted cash.
“It is surprising that people in Congress, their lawyer leaders are asking me under which law have I banned these currency notes, I want to ask them under which law did they ban the 25 paise,” the PM said, while adding how a person did something which befitted his or her stature. “You never went beyond 25 paise and we have done what was of our standing,” he said.
Rubbishing allegations that the move is anti-poor, Modi said that it was the rich who were spending sleepless nights. “Poor people are sleeping peacefully, it is the rich who are running from pillar to post to buy sleeping pills,” he said while addressing a rally at Gazipur
Prime Minister added he was better aware of the hardships being faced by commoners. “You (Congress) issue statements. I feel the pulse of the poor,” he said adding “Some political parties are worried after demonitisation…they used to get huge garlands of notes…only option now is to put the ₹ 500 and ₹ 1000 notes in waste paper basket.”
He said some people wear a smile on the face, they even say Modi ji you have done a good job but they instigate their party workers to oppose my decision.
Referring to intelligence inputs on terror agencies using counterfeit notes to fund their activities on Indian soil, Modi said that the enemy is flooding the nation with these counterfeit notes and we need to put an end to this.
Reiterating from his Sunday’s speech in Goa, he said he is not scared of those against him and will never stray from the path of “truth and integrity”.
Modi also said there was no dearth of money in the country but it was not there where it should be.
He also asked the crowds to endorse demonetisation by raising their hands and clapping. When the crowd did so, he said his mandate was to clear the country of graft and weed out the corrupt and he was merely doing so.
He began his address by saluting Ghazipur for giving birth to Param Vir Chakra awardee Abdul Hamid, who “taught Pakistan a lesson in the 1965 war”. Thanking the voters of Uttar Pradesh for providing the support and trusting the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections, Modi said, “The state played a key role in giving us an absolute majority.”
Saying that he will change the fortunes of farmers in the state, PM Modi said Jawaharlal Nehru had formed a committee to study the dire state of farmers in Purvanchal, but its report got lost in files with the change of governments at the Centre. “After Pandit Nehru passed away, many PMs came and went but that committee report is still lost in files,” said PM Modi.
On Nehru’s 127th birth anniversary, PM Modi pledged to reopen those files, which the Congress and Gandhi family never did. “Today on Pandit ji’s bday I pledge to reopen those files, which his party and family PMs never did. Its my tribute,” said PM Modi. He went on to announce a comprehensive crop insurance scheme to reduce the burden on farmers. Uttar Pradesh will go to polls early next year.
