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  India   PM adopts Italian strategy

PM adopts Italian strategy

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : May 7, 2016, 5:36 am IST
Updated : May 7, 2016, 5:36 am IST

Modi: If Italians have accused them (Congress), what should we do

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election campaign rally at Hosur in Tamil Nadu. (Photo: PTI)
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election campaign rally at Hosur in Tamil Nadu. (Photo: PTI)

Modi: If Italians have accused them (Congress), what should we do

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked people if the scamsters in the multi-crore AgustaWestl-and helicopter deal should go unpunished. “Should those involved in the chopper deal be punished or not,” he asked a crowd gathered at Anthivadi stadium in Hosur, western Tamil Nadu. Those who knew Hindi in the crowd responded with a wave of applause.

Then, the Prime Minister took a dig at the Italian connections of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. “I have not been to Italy and I have no relatives in Italy. What will I do if the people known to them say they are corrupt,” Mr Modi said amid a round of applause.

The Prime Minister — in his first election rally in Tamil Nadu for the Assem-bly election, which comes a day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi addres-sed a rally in Chennai — dubbed the controversial deal as “chori (theft)” and said that the guilty, howsoever big, would not be spared. “If the court in Italy has said that people from the last government in India have taken money, why then are you troubling us here Does any one of your relatives live in Italy Do any of my relatives live in Italy... I have not seen Italy. I have not been to Italy. Nor have I met anyone in Italy. If Italians have accused th-em, what should we do,” Mr Modi asked. “Those involved in helicopter ch-ori (theft), should they be punished or not Should legal action be taken agai-nst them or not However big they are, should action be taken against them or not I want to know from the people of Tamil Nadu,” Mr Modi said.

He said Tamil Nadu should now be knowing why people in New Delhi “don’t allow” him to work. “It is because he (Modi) has tightened the screws. This has affected the corrupt. It has disturbed their sleep. So they are attacking me,” the PM said, adding, “I won’t fear this or bow to this.”