Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the battle against corruption is serious and that probe agencies must be allowed to do their work without interference.
In an interview with PTI, he also asserted that his “Adani-Ambani” remark was validated by senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury himself when he “admitted” that he would not speak against the businessmen if they sent him “tempo-loads of money”.
On 8 May, the prime minister accused the Congress of having a nexus with “Ambani and Adani”, and asked if the party had received “tempo loads of black money” from the two businessmen for Rahul Gandhi to stop “abusing” them.
In what appeared to be a change in narrative on the “Ambani-Adani” issue – which was until now used by the Congress to attack Modi and his government at the Centre – the prime minister wanted to know if there was suddenly any “sauda” or deal.
In an interview to an online platform a few days later, Chowdhury was asked if he spoke against Adani and Ambani. He responded in jest: “Yes, I do because they don’t send us money. If they send, people (will) become silent.”
Asked if he would go silent on getting the money, Chowdhury nodded with a laugh and said, “First let them send, then we will consider.”
Prodded about his “Adani-Ambani” remark which had taken many by surprise, Modi told PTI, “For the past few years, the main campaign plank of Congress’s ‘shehzada’ (prince) has been to sing the same tune about two people. And suddenly, as the election began, the plank shifted. Why this sudden change?” he asked.
The prime minister added: “My point was instantly validated by none other than the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury admitted that if Adani-Ambani sent tempo-loads of money, he would not speak against them.”
He further said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were agencies that functioned independently.
“They have done an excellent job in tackling cases of corruption and black money. Before 2014, the ED attached only Rs 5,000 crore. In my tenure, assets worth Rs 1 lakh crore have been attached. The battle against corruption is a serious one. We must allow our agencies to do their work without interference,” Modi said.
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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The Prime Minister is not qualified to talk about corruption.