"Hundreds of crores of rupees are openly available with the dynastic parties," he said (File)File)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at the opposition's INDIA grouping saying that its leaders were working to protect the corrupt, and abusing and threatening him to hinder the country's development.
"I say remove corruption, they say save the corrupt," PM Modi said at a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat district which will go to polls on April 19.
The Lok Sabha elections were a mission for building a new India, he said, seeking the people's blessings to take "big and historic decisions" in the third term of the BJP-led NDA government.
The "sea of saffron" that had gathered to hear him showed what the poll results on June 4 would be, PM Modi said.
Congress has sounded the bugle against the country by forming the "INDI alliance", the prime minister said, adding that these parties fight with each other but claim to have come together to stop him.
"But in reality, they do not want to stop Modi. Those in the INDI alliance want to stop the development of the country," he said.
"That is why they are abusing and threatening me. I have left everything to dedicate myself to the mission of serving the country. For Modi, Bharat is my family. Those who have come into politics to fill their own coffers should not abuse me," he added.
"I say remove corruption, they say save the corrupt. The people of the alliance have this enmity towards me. I will expose the money from corruption that has gone into their coffers. This work will be done at a faster pace in the next five years," the PM said.
"Hundreds of crores of rupees are openly available with the dynastic parties. Note-counting machine gets tired and breaks down when they count this money. But Congress people are openly and shamelessly holding rallies seeking to stop action and proceedings against corrupt people," he alleged.
This was a very important election for the future of the country, PM Modi further said.
"This is an election for the development of new India," he said, adding "we have to take the rocket of development much higher." The people of Madhya Pradesh wiped out the Congress in the assembly elections last year, the prime minister noted.
"When Modi gives a guarantee of the country's security, they abuse me. When Modi fulfills the guarantee of abrogating Article 370 (which had granted a special status to Jammu and Kashmir), they start talking in the language of Pakistan," he said.
He is a devotee of Lord Mahakal and not afraid of anyone, the prime minister said, evoking the famous deity of Ujjain in the state.
"Modi bows either before Lord Mahakal or the public, and for the development of the country and its service, I have also learnt to tolerate abuse," he said.
Opposition leaders also abused him when he fulfilled his guarantee of carrying out the consecration of Lord Ram's idol at the Ayodhya temple, Modi claimed.
He also accused Congress of conspiring to defeat Droupadi Murmu when she was set to become the first tribal woman president of India.
"(When) At G-20 (summit), major global decisions, which seemed impossible, are taken in India, every citizen of the country feels that his power has increased. When India's fame rises from America to Australia, every person in the country feels that his respect has increased," the PM said.
In another jibe at Congress, he said in these elections, its leaders were not fighting against the BJP, but with each other.
Congress governments of the past approached other countries over issues related to India, Modi said.
"But times have changed today, big countries of the world, countries that are at war among themselves, come to India to talk about their issues....Seeing this status of our country, the morale of every Indian goes up," he said.
Congress's thinking after Independence kept the country backward, the prime minister alleged.
"Their minds were full of arrogance regarding the freedom movement. Congress denied the sacrifices made by the common people in the freedom movement as soon as it came to power. The coterie and clan surrounding a family became dominant," he said.
The BJP-led Union government, whose mantra is `Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (with everyone, for development of everyone), is giving priority to every city and every village, and spending lakhs of crores of rupees on the development of modern infrastructure, Modi said.
His government also gives priority to the underprivileged and accords respect to this Dalit-backward class-tribal section of society which was deprived of identity and recognition by the previous governments, he said.
Congress never gave the status of freedom fighter to a revolutionary like Govind Guru, Modi alleged. In an apparent swipe at the Nehru-Gandhi family, he added that the party wanted to give the credit for winning freedom only to its "royal family", and not to any tribal hero.
The BJP government gave the status of freedom fighter to Govind Guru, honoured tribal leader Tantya Mama and started celebrating Adivasi Gaurav Diwas to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Birsa Munda, he said.
The PM also appealed people to vote in large numbers and "break all polling records".
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)