Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday played up corruption as the biggest problem before the country and linked it to “parivarvaad” (dynastic rule) but spoke not a word on the charges against the Adani group and his proximity to Gautam Adani.

Addressing a gathering here at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the CBI, Modi said corruption was the biggest roadblock before democracy and justice and that the investigative agency’s key responsibility was to free India from it.

His statement comes amid Opposition allegations that the government is misusing its investigative agencies, especially the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, to harass, intimidate and discredit political opponents.

At Monday’s event, the Prime Minister hit out at the Opposition saying “bhai-bhatijavaad” (nepotism) and “parivarvaad” thrived in an environment of corruption and this ultimately hindered the nation’s growth.

He said there was no dearth of political will today to act against corruption, and officers should act against the corrupt, however powerful, without hesitation.

Modi said that those who had benefited from corruption for decades had created an ecosystem that attacked the investigative agencies, but the agencies should not be deterred.

“These people will keep distracting you, but you have to focus on your work. No corrupt person should be spared and there should be no laxity in your efforts,” he said.

“This is the wish of the people of the country. The country, law and the Constitution are with you.”

Modi said India had been handed a legacy of corruption at the time of Independence and regretted that instead of abandoning it, some people kept nourishing it.

He described corruption as the biggest enemy of merit, saying it encouraged nepotism and dynastic rule, sapping the country’s strength and eventually stunting its development.

Modi said that while references to “trillion dollars” these days came in the context of a strong economy, such figures were used to describe scams in the country when the CBI celebrated its golden jubilee a decade ago.

“A competition was going on about who would set a new record in corruption,” Modi said. The Prime Minister said the scams and the then prevailing sense of impunity had led to the destruction of the system and an atmosphere of policy paralysis that brought development to a standstill.

Praising the CBI, he said the agency had won the people’s faith. “The CBI’s name is on everyone’s lips. It’s a brand for truth and justice. Even at the panchayat level, if an important crime happens, people want it to be referred to the CBI,” the Prime Minister said. At the programme, Modi virtually inaugurated new CBI office complexes in Shillong, Pune and Nagpur, released a postage stamp and a commemorative coin, and launched the agency’s Twitter handle. The CBI was established by a resolution of the Union home ministry on April 1,1963.