Bengaluru: Coming down heavily on the Opposition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the INDIA bloc has been formed to protect the corrupt while wondering why those involved in Rs 12 lakh crore graft -- hinting towards scams that surfaced during the Congress-led UPA regime, should not be sent to prison.
Addressing a convention of 'Shakti Kendra Pramukhs' at the Palace Grounds here, HM Shah lashed out at the INDIA bloc for questioning the Constitution and democracy.
"What has happened to them? The INDIA bloc is formed to protect the corrupt. In 2014, we declared that those involved in corruption to the tune of Rs 12 lakh crore during the previous regime would be sent to jail. Should they be sent to prison or not?"
"Mr. Rahul Gandhi, are you questioning us? Rs 3.5 crore cash has been seized from the residence of your MP. You should be ashamed of this. Authorities have seized Rs 51 crore cash from a minister of Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal Cabinet. If not prison, should these persons be sent to a palace?" he questioned.
"You (referring to the Opposition) should think about where Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 51 crore came from, " HM Shah said.
The senior BJP leader said that in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, on one side, there is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, and on the other, INDIA bloc is representing a group of people and families mired in corruption.
"I have travelled to most parts of the country. Wherever I have gone, the youth, elderly, employed, and women were heard raising slogans in favour of PM Modi in villages as well as urban areas, " HM Shah said.
The Home Minister further said PM Modi has been in the position of Chief Minister as well as Prime Minister for the last 23 years and the Opposition would not be able to accuse him of being involved in corruption of even 25 paise.
"In a span of 10 years during the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, corruption of Rs 12 lakh crore had taken place. Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar is not bothered about corruption. However, the people of Karnataka do not like corruption, " HM Shah said while counting the number of scams that surfaced during the UPA rule.
He further said: "The people of this country know that for 23 long years, PM Modi was not involved in corruption of a single rupee. But whenever the opposition gets to power, they indulge in corruption and have no concern for the people.
The Union Minister also said: "PM Modi has not taken a single day off for 23 years. He is the only leader in the world to achieve this. But Rahul Gandhi will leave for a foreign country during the summer.
"PM Modi has fulfilled all promises made in 2014. Twenty-five crore people have been lifted out of poverty, 12 crore toilets have been built, and four crore houses were given to the poor."
Further slamming the Congress, HM Shah said: "The Congress has criticised us for not changing the manifesto for decades. The BJP has fulfilled all promises made in the earlier manifesto. Article 370 was removed while the Congress could not do it for 70 years. For 500 years, Lord Ram did not have an abode. A magnificent Ram Temple has been built. When the country was witnessing a historic moment in Ayodhya, Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and Rahul Gandhi did not attend the event. It was done for the sake of politics. They feared their vote bank would be affected."
The Home Minister also criticised the Opposition's stance over the issue of CAA, saying: "Is it wrong to give citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis from Pakistan and Bangladesh who came to India to save their women and religion?"
HM Shah also said that if voted for the third tenure, it is PM Modi's guarantee that he will take the economy to the third position in the world.