Line I’ve made you stand in is last line, to end all lines: PM Modi at Moradabad

“Aur bhi sarkaron ne layinen lagwai hain. Desh 70 saalon se line mein hai. Cheeni ke liye line. Mitti ke tel ke liye line. Ration ke liye line. Maine jo ye line lagwai hai naa, ye aakhri line hai. Un sab lainon ko khatam karne wali line (Other governments have made you stand in lines. For 70 years, the country has stood in a line, for sugar, kerosene, rations. The line I have made you stand in, it is the last line. The line to end all lines).”

With banks still short of cash, the PM claimed that previous governments kept printing and printing notes — “note chaapte jaate the” — which would get dumped into the lockers of the rich. “Ab main wahi paisa nikalwa raha hoon. Nikalo, nikalo. Aa raha hai (I am getting the same money out. Take it out, take it out. It is coming).”

Calling himself a “fakir (hermit)”, Modi again hinted that he may be under threat from his opponents. “All these people who are protesting, what is the worst they can do? I am a hermit, I will just take my jhola and leave,” he said.

In his 38-minute speech, Modi listed how the BJP was better than all other parties. Saluting the farmers, he said there had been governments before that gave speeches, but his was the first government which gave “hisaab (accountability)”. “I don’t have a high command, no ministers above me, I only report to you.”

Contesting the Opposition’s charge that farmers had been hit hard by the demonetisation, he said, “I especially want to thank farmers who despite all the problems have not allowed sowing to be affected… It has rather gone up from last time.”

He added, “Some people have lost the glow on their faces… earlier they used to chant money, money, money, now they are chanting Modi-Modi”. “The honest people are queuing outside banks. The rich and corrupt are secretly queuing outside the houses of the poor, requesting them to deposit their money in their Jan Dhan accounts. Whoever’s money you have put in your accounts, don’t withdraw a penny. See how they will make rounds of your houses. They will plead with you, fall at your feet. Have you ever seen such a situation in India before?… If someone tries to flex his muscles, tell him to show proof he gave you the money. Ask for evidence.”

The PM said the poor could approach him directly if threatened by any rich person.

“Aap mujhse vaada karo aap inke ek bhi paise ko uthaiye mat… Agar aisa kiya, to main aapko bata doon ki main roz dimaag laga raha hoon… ki kaise in brashtachariyon ko, jinhone galat tareeke se gareebon ke khate me paise dale hain, wo jayein jail me or gareebon ke gharon me jaye wo rupya (Promise me you won’t touch a penny of their money. If you do that, I promise you that I am thinking every day as to how to put these corrupt people, who have put money in the accounts of the poor, in jail, and the money reaches the poor),” said the PM, adding that no one could have thought Jan Dhan accounts could be used like this.

Thanking all those who supported him, Modi talked about December 1, pay day, and how even a TV reporter was forced to do “honest reporting”. “Ek reporter December 1 ko, subah se bank ke bahar khadi ho gayi. Wo logon ko sawal poochne lagi, unko bhadkane wale sawal, unko gussa aaye aise sawal. Magar maine dekha ki kaise woh reporter ne kaafi time baad imaandari se reporting kiya. Aakhir mein usne bhi bola ki use tajjub hai ki kaise ye log subah se, thand me, lainon me khade hain aur phir bhi khush hain (She stood outside the bank from the morning. She started asking questions, questions to provoke, make people angry. But I saw how that reporter did honest reporting after a long time. Ultimately, she too said that she was surprised as to how these people were standing since the morning, in the cold, in a line, and were still happy).”

He added, “The hardships you have borne, the hours you have spent in queues, even when there were boards saying no cash, I promise you, I will not let your toil go waste. I will find ways to solve your problems.”

Modi went on to ask whether he shouldn’t fight corruption. “Will it go by itself? Won’t we have to use a stick to chase it out? If someone works to weed out corruption, is he a criminal? But I am surprised that some people in our country are accusing me. Is it my fault that I am working for the poor? I am fighting this war for you,” said the PM.

Modi urged the people to go in for mobile shopping and Internet banking, saying there was no need for cash if they had a mobile phone. “Your phone is your wallet,” he said.

He asked educated youngsters to teach the elderly and poor how to use mobile banking and shopping. “People say Indians are illiterate, Indians don’t know anything. But around the world, people use paper ballots, India votes with a button. My country accepts change. The poor of my country accepted the change. We don’t have to only weed out black money, we don’t only have to force money out of the hands of the corrupt, but we have to make sure this problem does not come again, and that will happen only when my country will become a digital India,” said the PM.

Modi referred to a WhatsApp video showing a beggar using a swipe machine. “Main nahin jaanta wo kitna sahi hai, kitna galat, magar maine dekha kaise ek bikhari ek gaadi ke paas aya. Gaadi ke under baithe log bole hum tumhari madad karna chahte hain magar humare paas toote paise nahin hain. Ye sunte hi bikhari ne jhole se card swipe machine nikala aur bola laao ATM de do main khud kar le raha hoon. Ye hansi ki baat nahin hai. Ye batane ke liye hai ki mera desh kitni jaldi cheezon ko apnata hai (I don’t how true it is, but I saw in the video that one beggar came to a car. The people in the car said we want to help you but we don’t have change. The beggar pulled out a card swipe machine and said give me your ATM and I will do it myself. This is not a joke. This shows how quickly my country adopts change).”