PM: Conspiracy to ‘defame’ me, destabilise govt

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday there was a “conspiracy” to “defame” him, malign his image and destabilise his government as he had gone against the fertiliser lobby by asking urea producers for neem coating of the commodity.

“Previously, urea was not sufficiently available for farmers, not because it was in great demand but due to its blackmarketing for industrial use. When my government enforced neem coating, it was adequately available. But for my government’s bold decision, I was targeted by a section of NGOs. These outfits, which received foreign funds, left no stone unturned to go against me and my government. But I am not a person to be cowed down... I did what I felt right,” he said.

He said “some people” could not digest the fact that a chaiwalla (tea seller) had become PM, and so were always conspiring to bring him down.

Enlisting measures taken by his government for farmers’ welfare as he launched the ambitious “Rurban Mission” to develop 300 villages across India as urban growth centres, a combative Mr Modi said: “You would have seen in the recent past there is attack on me all the time. Some people are continuously at it. They are not able to digest how Modi became Prime Minister, how a chaiwalla became PM, they cannot swallow it.”

Referring to NGOs, he said the “moment we started asking for accounts, they all got together and said ‘Modi ko Maaro’... he is seeking accounts from us,” the PM said. “The country needs to know where the money is being spent.”