Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday told a rally in Hyderabad that the Supreme Court had given a "jhatka (jolt)" to the Opposition parties by not entertaining their plea against the alleged "arbitrary use" of central probe agencies against them.
"A few days ago some political parties went to court seeking protection that no one should inquire into their books filled with corruption," Modi said, speaking in Hindi. "But the court gave them a jhatka," he added, amid applause.
The Prime Minister has been silent on the allegations of fraud against the Adani group and his government has stubbornly refused to allow a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe in the matter.
The Supreme Court earlier this week dismissed a joint petition by 14 Opposition parties led by the Congress seeking pre-arrest guidelines to prevent alleged abuse of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate by the Modi government, saying “political leaders do not enjoy a higher immunity than a common citizen”.
Modi, who is on a two-day tour of Telangana, Tamil Nadu and poll-bound Karnataka, on Saturday addressed a rally in Hyderabad where he again used the corruption plank to slam the Opposition.
The BJP leader asked the crowd: "Should we fight against corruption or not? Should we fight against the corrupt or not? Should the country be liberated from corruption or not? Should legal steps not be taken against the corrupt, however big? Should the law be allowed to work against the corrupt or not?” That's why “these people” are upset and they are acting out of anger, Modi said.
Modi accused the state's ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi government of blocking the Centre's development projects and stressed that dynasty in politics leads to corruption.
"Dynasty and corruption are interlinked. Dynasty leads to increase in corruption," the Prime Minister said.
Without naming anyone from chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's family, Modi said a handful of people who encourage "parivarvad" were trying to reap the benefits of development projects meant for the people.
Modi's visit to the southern states, against the backdrop of some Congress leaders joining the BJP, appeared aimed at building the perception that the BJP's stocks were rising in the region and leveraging this to expand.
On Saturday, another former Congress leader, C.R. Kesavan, the great-grandson of India's first governor-general C. Rajagopalachari, joined the BJP in Delhi. Earlier, Congress veteran A.K. Antony's son Anil Antony and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Reddy had switched to the BJP.
From Telangana, Modi travelled to Tamil Nadu and in both states inaugurated and laid foundation stones for development projects.
