(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Sujanpur (Himachal Pradesh): Taking on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for "its failure to check corruption", BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi yesterday asserted that "person like me who does not have any family bond can only fight it (corruption)"
"Black money stashed abroad belongs to the people of India. These people (Congressmen)have looted the poor and put money there," Modi said at a public rally here in Hamirpur district, 175km from Shimla
"If the Congressmen are not corrupt then what is the problem in getting back the black money. If we need freedom from corruption, we need freedom from the corrupt," he said
"And for whom should I be corrupt... I have nothing... This mind and body is totally devoted to the nation.
In a bid to woo salaried class, Modi said: "On coming to power, we will bring back black money and deposit it in the public exchequer. We will disburse a percentage of it among salaried people, who have been honestly depositing the income tax,"
He said. Taking on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on the Telangana issue, Modi said: "The Congress is indulging in divisive politics. It's doing 'zeher ki kheti' (sowing seeds of poison on Telangana)." The Congress has chosen to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh and create a new Telangana state.
"The whole of Andhra Pradesh is burning. The way it (Congress) wants to create Telangana, neither Telangana is happy nor Seemandhra," he said in an hour-long speech
Modi expressed confidence that the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) would form the next government at the centre, and added: "Our agenda is National Development Alliance.
On price rise, he said: "The (central) government promised to reduce price rise within 100 days. Have the high prices came down? Has any Congress leader given any reply (in this regard).
Like price rise, corruption is ruining the nation, he said. "The nation needs freedom from corruption.
Accompanied by the party's national president Rajnath Singh, Modi said the Congress leaders were least bothered about the common man
Recalling the contributions of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the state, he said: "When Atal-ji was the prime minister, the apple growers of the state were getting remunerative prices for their produce.
"Now, the apple growers from Himachal are not getting good prices. But the apple imported from foreign countries is getting good prices," said Modi, donning a Himachali cap for the occasion
The Gujarat chief minister said that sadly a country with a population of 1.25 billion has failed to make a mark at the international level
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