Modi pulls up govt. over Unnao gold hunt, says 'first get black money back'

Mocking the central government for excavating a fort site on the basis of a local hermit's dream, to find 1000 tonnes of gold in Unnao, Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday said the latter should first get all the black money stored in Swiss banks back, as that was worth more than all the 'hidden' gold.

"The whole world is making fun of us. Someone dreamt of it and the Central Government has gone hunting for 1000 tonnes of gold. The black money of all the corrupt people is stored in Swiss banks, and it is worth more than 1000 tonnes of gold, and they should first get that back," he said at a rally held here.

He further said that if the Centre is capable of getting back the black money stored in foreign banks, it would not have humiliated the country by searching for gold in this way.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is excavating a medieval fort near Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, after a local hermit Yogi Swami Shobhan Sarkar said that he had dreamt that 1000 tonnes of gold is buried under the ruins of a palace-cum-fort.

He had reportedly written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suggesting that this treasure could be used to help the country recover from its economic slowdown.

The ASI has sent a team of archaeologists to the village of Daundia Khera in Uttar Pradesh to dig two 100-square-metre blocks by the side the palace fort.