Nirmala Sitharaman says agencies were not allowed to investigate corruption during UPA regime

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday alleged that agencies were not allowed to investigate the corruption that happened during the Congress-led UPA’s rule. She also called the Congress “B-team” of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala.

“In Modi Govt, law enforcement agencies do their business as per law. During UPA, mountainous amount of corruption happened but no agency was allowed to investigate. Congress is B-team of LDF [Left Democratic Front],” news agency ANI quoted the finance minister as saying. She made these comments in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram, according to ANI.

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Sitharaman, who is on a two-day visit to the poll bound Kerala, has been actively campaigning to seek support for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates in the upcoming state assembly elections. During the day, she addressed a public meeting in Kottarakkara assembly constituency and also took part in a road show in the Thiruvalla assembly constituency.

Earlier in the day, the finance minister said that the Congress party in Kerala was not interested in questioning the LDF government because of the solar scam which hit the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government.

“Do we want parties like these? They don't care for the people of Kerala and are interested only in lining their pockets,” she said, during the road show in Thiruvalla.

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Top BJP leaders including PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah have campaigned in Kerala seeking support for the party’s candidates. Amit Shah also attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and called him a “tourist politician” during a campaign rally in Wayanad.

The Congress’ top brass too has been campaigning actively in the state. On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi pitched his party’s Nyay agenda during a rally in Kozhikode, saying “Nyay yojana will eradicate poverty in Kerala immediately. There will not be a single poor person in Kerala after Nyay is implemented. Nobody in this state will have less them ₹72,000 in their bank accounts.”