NEW DELHI: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his government's
war against corruption was not a fight aimed against his political opponents.
"There is no reason to believe the fight against
corruption
and black money is a political fight. It is not to single out any particular political party," PM Modi said during a debate in the Rajya Sabha.
Defending his November 8 decision to
demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 , the Prime Minister said the step was to empower the poor and the honest.
"Honest forces will not be empowered unless there's strict action against the dishonest. The ultimate beneficiaries of these steps will be the poor. These steps will empower the honest," he said.
Targeting the opposition, PM Modi claimed the people and the government were together on this decision while the
opposition
parties were isolated on the other side of the divide.
"There is a horizontal divide - on one side are the people of India and the government and on the other side are a group of political leaders," he said.
The Prime Minister slammed the opposition for
dragging the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) into politics over the note ban.
"Attacks on the party I belong to, our government, on me are understandable but why was the RBI dragged into this? Let us keep institutions above politics," he admonished.
PM Modi said the
demonetisation move has no parallels in the world as a decision of this magnitude was never taken in history.