PM targets Cong at NRI meet, says BJP govt stopped loot

Taking on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said the party that ruled for so long made no effort to plug corruption despite a former prime minister identifying the malady, while the BJP ended "85 per cent of the loot" in four-and-a-half years.

Without naming Rajiv Gandhi, he alluded to the former prime minister's remark that only 15 paise of Re 1 reaches the masses and said Congress governments over the years did nothing to stop the leakage.

Modi said his government gave about Rs 5,80,000 crore to the people directly through various schemes.

Addressing NRIs and Indian-origin people at the inauguration of the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas convention in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, Modi described NRIs as India's brand ambassadors and said they were the symbols of the country's capabilities.

The government has changed the mindset that India cannot change, he said in the presence of chief guest Mauritian Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, UP Governor Ram Naik, and Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh, among others.

Modi said India's contribution was being recognized at the international level, especially its role with regard to environment.

Taking a swipe at the Congress, Modi said it got to know about the disease, acknowledged the disease, but neither thought about it, nor did anything in the direction of curing the ailment.

The party that ruled the country for so many years had given the system to the country, a truth that was accepted by the then prime minister. But what is regrettable is that later in its rule of 10-15 years, there was no effort made to end this loot and leakage, Modi said