Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave speech in parliament today to attack the opposition's collective attack on his abrupt note ban of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes.

Reserving his strongest points for the Congress, the PM said that "my government is committed to cleansing the country of corruption, which requires reversing the actions of the Congress. Earlier people would ask how much money has gone (to the corrupt). Now people talk about how much money has come in. This is how discourse has changed after we have assumed office."

"The earthquake finally did happen," he said, provoking laughter from members of his coalition. The PM referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's claim in December said that "the government was preventing him from speaking in parliament on the notes ban because if he was allowed to share his remarks, an earthquake will happen."

Yesterday, Uttarakhand was hit by an earthquake of 5.8 on the Richter scale, that tremors were felt in Delhi too.

In another swipe at Rahul Gandhi, the PM said "How can someone see 'SEVA' (service) or any positive virtue in the word SCAM?"

Mr Gandhi said at a rally on Sunday in UP that "allegations of scams made against his party are vendetta and that those who describe the Congress as scam-centric should know SCAM stands for Seva, Courage, Ability and Modesty". 

The PM had earlier hit his political opponents in UP as a "SCAM -S for Samajwadi Party, C for Congress, A for Akhilesh and M for Mayawati."

"The notes ban was introduced at the correct time, the economy was ready to handle it. We could not have made the move at a time when the economy was weak or not progressing," the PM said.

"My fight is for the poor and giving the poor their due. This fight will continue. It does not matter how big you are, you will have to give back what belongs to the poor. My fight is for the poor": PM on demonetization and fighting corruption.

On September's surgical strikes against Pakistan, the PM said: "I was astonished to see some of the statements made by some of you about surgical strikes in the first 24-hours. Put a hand on your heart and ask yourselves if that was right...  You are troubled with the surgical strikes.  You cannot bear good work done by others. It is unsettling for you to digest the facts. Deal with it."

EC Gives Nod to PM Narendra Modi's 'Mann ki Baat' programme

BY M. DIVYA SRI