Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a rally at Hussainiwala village in Ferozepur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched upon the key issue of land bill in his speech in Punjab's Ferozepur district, which he was visiting to pay tributes to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.
Referring to the bill, on which the government is facing stiff opposition, he said, there is an effort to "mislead the farmers of India". "I spoke about this in my radio programme 'Mann ki Baat'." he said.
"If the country has to develop, the farmer has to develop. If there is no development, the sons of farmers will have to focus on winning their daily bread," he said. "I ask the sons of farmers, do you want to live in the slums of Mumbai or Delhi?"
The government has been making repeated attempts to bring all stakeholders - political parties, activists and farmers - on board regarding the bill.
Yesterday, on his monthly radio programme, PM Modi reached out directly to farmers, saying if the government had not brought the land ordinance, then "farmers' land would have gone and they wouldn't have got any money".
The Congress had slammed the remarks, saying the government's move to bring changes in the Bill was a "smoke screen" to benefit industrialists.
Today, hitting out at the Congress on the corruption issue, the Prime Minister said, "The amount of corruption in this country probably disturbs Bhagat Singh's soul".
"We are here to give you a corruption-free government," he said. "Just in the auction of coal blocks, lakh of crores were lost to corruption". The NDA government, he said, auctioned only 18 mines and has managed to ensure Rs 2 lakh crore from the sale.
The reference to the auction of coal blocks and mines were a reminder of the last hurdle crossed by the government in Rajya Sabha, where the relevant bills had been passed as late as Friday - hours before the Parliament broke for a month-long recess. The mines bill was in danger of being blocked in Rajya Sabha due to the united opposition from the Congress government and the Left Front.