'Fakir' Modi asks people to go cashless

Queue for cash will be the last queue, PM promises at rally

Under attack over long queues outside banks and ATMs after demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit back saying it would be the “last queue” for people, who had been standing in queues for everything in the past 70 years. Calling himself a 'fakir' (ascetic), Modi, while addressing a public meeting at Moradabad, about 350 km from here, said  he was ''surprised'' by the attacks on him for ''fighting'' corruption.

''I want to tell those, who are talking about queues, that you (his opponents) made the people stand in queues for sugar, kerosene oil... for the past 70 years,'' he remarked. ''Un sab kataron ko khatma karne ke liye ye akhiri katar lagayee hai''(this is the last queue to stop all those queues), the prime minister said, batting for a cashless society and urging people to use their mobile phones for making purchases and payments.

Stating that he understood the pains and sufferings of the people, who stood in queues in the cold and under the sun, Modi said that it clearly indicated that the people of the country had taken upon themselves the fight against corruption. ''The people have proved that they will make any sacrifice, provided the intention is honest,'' he said. The prime minister said, ''I am surprised some people call me guilty...is it wrong to fight corruption?...corruption has ruined the country...it is at the root of all the problems.”

He noted that corruption cannot end ''automatically''. ''We  have to use the stick for removing it...laws will have to be invoked against corrupt people,'' he added. The prime minister said he was unfazed by criticism by his opponents. ''What harm can you do to me?...We are like fakirs (ascetic)...we will pack our bags and move on,'' Modi remarked.

Modi recalled that banks were nationalised with the intention of reaching out to the poor but the purpose was defeated as many had no access to banking. He said his was a government “accountable to the people” and not one to make mere announcements. “I have no master...no high command...You (people) are my leader...you are everything to me,” he said.