PM Modi targets Opposition over bill on tainted ministers
PM Modi spoke in Bodh Gaya after inaugurating and laying the foundation of different projects worth ₹12,000 crore.
The Opposition is against three contentious bills that bar any minister, chief minister or prime minister from holding office after getting arrested for a serious crime because most of their leaders are in jail or out on bail, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, alleging that the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress were supporting infiltrators in Bihar.
Modi spoke in Bodh Gaya after inaugurating and laying the foundation of different projects worthRs 12,000 crore. Later in the day, he travelled to Kolkata where he inaugurated three Metro lines and projects worth ₹1,200 crore and attacked the ruling Trinamool Congress, saying two state ministers refused to resign even after going to jail.
“We have seen a regrettable situation in which people in seats of power have been running governments from jail, signing files from behind bars, tearing to shreds constitutional propriety,” said Modi, in an apparent reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who was arrested in March last year and got bail in September that year.
Saying that there was “no taint of corruption” on his 11-year-old government, the PM drew a contrast with the previous Congress regimes at the Centre and the RJD in the state.
“So, we decided to bring in a law that provides for the dismissal of a corrupt chief minister, or even the PM, if he or she spends 30 days in jail. A lowly clerk, if he is jailed for a short period, is placed under suspension. But when we brought in a stringent law, the RJD, the Congress and the Left were livid. They are angry because they are scared of facing punishment for their own sins,” Modi alleged.
He highlighted the dangers of demographic imbalance due to infiltration in border areas and underlined his Independence Day announcement of a high-powered demography mission to address this national security challenge. He appeared to link the issue of infiltration to the ongoing controversial special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
“The increasing population of illegal immigrants in the country is a matter of concern. In the bordering areas of Bihar, demography is rapidly changing. The NDA government has decided not to let illegal immigrants decide the future of our country…To tackle this threat, I have proposed to start a demographic mission,” he said.
“The people of Bihar need to beware of the supporters of these immigrants in the country... Congress and RJD want to take away the rights of the people of Bihar and give them to immigrants for appeasement and to increase their vote bank. The RJD and Congress want your right to be given to them. Shouldn’t they be thrown out or not?” he added in a statement that was seen as an attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing yatra in Bihar.
The three bills – the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization (Amendment) Bill and The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill – propose that a sitting minister, chief minister or even the Prime Minister can lose their position within a month if they are arrested or detained for 30 consecutive days over an offence that carries a jail term of five years or more. They were sent to a joint parliamentary committee after Union home minister Amit Shah introduced them in the Lok Sabha earlier this week amid acrimony and protests.
In Bodh Gaya, Modi alleged that everybody in the state knew that RJD leaders were corrupt. “No major project was completed in Bihar during the regimes of RJD and Congress. They never thought about people’s betterment and were always busy filling their own pockets,” he said.
“Remember the condition here during the rule of lantern (the RJD’s poll symbol). This region was in the clutches of red terror. There was no education or employment. So many generations were forced to migrate.”
Hailing Operation Sindoor, the PM said that India had sent a strong message that no adversary will be left “unpunished” and Indian missiles will strike and eliminate terrorists even if they are hiding in the depths of hell. “Bihar is the land of Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya. Bihar has stood as the backbone of the country at all times. When the Pahalgam terror attack happened, I had vowed to reduce the terrorists to dust from this land. The world has seen that resolve getting fulfilled.”
“Pakistan was attacking us with drones and missiles but India was demolishing Pakistan’s missiles in the air like twigs. Not even a single missile of Pakistan could cause any harm to us. Operation Sindoor has drawn a new line of India’s defence policy, sending a strong message that no adversary will go unpunished. Whether terrorists hide in the depths of hell, India’s missiles will track them down and eliminate them,” the PM added.
During his visit, the PM inaugurated key connectivity projects, including the 8.15-km Aunta – Simaria bridge on NH-31, the four-lane Bakhtiyarpur to Mokama section of NH-31 and two trains. He also unveiled the Buxar Thermal Power Plant, aimed at strengthening the power sector infrastructure in the state. In a major boost to health infrastructure, PM inaugurated the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre at Muzaffarpur.
Later in the day in Kolkata, Modi targeted the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). “Two TMC ministers, even after going to jail on corruption charges, were not willing to give up their posts.” He was referring to former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam, and Jyoti Priya Mallick, arrested in the ration distribution scam.
“Those who are arrested on corruption charges, how can they be part of the government and remain in their posts? Modi will not allow this,” the PM said.
In Kolkata, Modi slammed the INDIA bloc and its constituent Trinamool Congress (TMC) for “encouraging infiltration to serve their political interests” as he urged the people of West Bengal to oust the Mamata Banerjee-led party during the assembly polls next years.
“Developed nations are waging war against infiltrators. Our country will not tolerate infiltrators anymore. Shouldn’t they be driven out? Who can free Bengal of infiltrators?... Cast your votes and infiltrators will flee,” Modi said while addressing a rally.
