Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party is up against the “coalition of the corrupt” who have come together to save themselves. This comes at a time when the opposition led by the Congress is trying to join forces, alleging the misuse of institutions by the Modi government.
Speaking at the function to inaugurate an extension of the BJP office in Delhi on Tuesday, the PM made it apparent that the ruling party’s campaign plank in 2024 will be its fight against corruption by leaders of the opposition and that his government will leave no stone unturned to expose the rot. Investigating agencies like the CBI and ED have targeted senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, RJD, TMC, BRS, and Congress on corruption charges.
The PM said those indulging in corruption are attacking the agencies when they probe them and such leaders had formed a ‘Bhrashtachari Bachao Abhiyan’ (Save the Corrupt Campaign) to discredit the institutions and question court decisions. His words would take one back to 2013 and 2014 when the BJP in the opposition under Modi’s leadership had made anti-corruption a big plank against the ruling UPA which was rocked by allegations of multiple scams.
PM Modi cited statistics to say that while the UPA government seized only Rs 5,000 crore of assets under PMLA, in the present regime, assets worth Rs 1 lakh crore have been confiscated.
The Prime Minister stressed that corruption goes down whenever the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power. He asked his party’s leaders to remember that the BJP is the only ‘pan-India’ party right now, in an apparent dig at regional players who are strong only in one state or the other and the Congress which has been limited to a few states. He reminded BJP leaders that women continue to back the BJP, along with the youth, indicating that these two voter constituents are crucial.
The PM also had a clear message that attacks on the BJP will increase in the run-up to polls and efforts have been made from many quarters, including anti-India forces abroad. The PM specifically referred to conspiracies being hatched to end the credibility of India’s institutions and India’s development being defamed and cited how the Congress pre-2014 “tried every possible trick” to send him to jail. “Now they say ‘Modi teri kabr khudegi’,” he said.
Two senior BJP leaders told News18 that the PM’s messaging seems clear to the party leaders to aggressively counter the opposition charges and highlight their corruption before the voters. “The PM wants BJP leaders to believe in the strengths of the party and how a major constituency of voters like the women and the youth back us. And even if the opposition unites, it will not amount to much as they have a selfish narrative,” one leader said.
The second leader said though the conviction of Rahul Gandhi and his disqualification as an MP has come as a silver lining for ‘opposition unity’, the BJP would remain steadfast in its line that Gandhi was speaking “against the country on foreign soil” and the party believes that voters will not forgive him for this. The PM’s words are expected to spur more attacks by the BJP on Gandhi, saying he is assembling a motley group of corrupt leaders.
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