From claiming 'telephone bargaining of posts' to 'recounting minister' jibe, PM Modi hits hard at UPA dispensation

Several members of the council of ministers in the past UPA government were on the target of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he launched one of the most scathing attacks on Congress in the recent past on Friday.

From evoking the 'Zero loss' jibe to accusing the UPA government of 'bargaining ministerial posts over the phone', Prime Minister Modi seemed in full-campaign mode while addressing a public rally in the southernmost coast of India.

"India has seen Prime Ministers who say that out of every rupee only 15 paise reaches poor. India has seen arrogant cabinet ministers who say zero loss to a scam worth lakhs of rupees," said Prime Minister Modi, in a veiled attack to the past Congress governments.

PM Modi avoided taking names but used the 'recounting minister' reference to taunt a former minister for applying for a 'family-pack' of bail.

"The NDA government has taken concrete steps against corruption. Fake companies have been shut, fake beneficiaries removed. The corrupt now have to pay for their misdeeds. The famous recounting minister who took pride in treating people badly, insulting middle class, he now had to apply for a family-pack of bail just like his party's first family," he said.

Accusing Congress of endorsing a culture that promoted only friends and family members of big dynasties, PM Modi added that the 2019 Lok Sabha will have two distinct sides- "our sides offer strength and stability, the other side offers weakness and vulnerability," he said.

He also reminded the large gathering of an alleged revelation that rocked the echelons of Indian politics way back in 2010 and said, "India remembers 2009 and how the DMK and Congress allotted portfolios after the election. Ministers were being picked not by the Prime Minister but by those who had nothing to do with the public service. There was telephone bargaining for the posts."

"An adulteration government will remain hostage to individual egos and dynastic ambitions," the Prime Minister stated in an apparent appeal to the public for choosing NDA over the mahagathbandhan or grand alliance of Opposition.