Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to a glitzy BJP welcome in Goa with posters adorning the highway and life-size cutouts of the PM standing tall at crucial junctions. The Prime Minister was here to lay the foundation stones for the Mopa airport and Tuem Electronic City. Amid much fanfare, Modi went on an emotional trip on how he is the man fighting the menace of black money. Back from Japan the previous night, a visibly tired looking Modi played to the galleries with his typical showmanship and went on playing to the sentiment of the common man. He almost broke down saying that he left behind his house and family and everything he had for the sake of the country while bringing to the fore the challenges before him and the threats that he is facing.
Modi made his intentions clear. He appeared adamant to carry the war against black money further. Days after announcing that the 1,000 and 500 rupee notes in circulation would no longer be accepted as legal tender, he announced that more is yet to come. He sought the help of the people for the next 50 days, signaling that this is not an end. However, Goans who were caught on the wrong foot, like the many others elsewhere, were not enthused by Modi’s bravado talk, although there were occasional bursts of applauds from the crowd.
His 45-minute passionate plea mostly sought to soothe the common man who was exposed to all sorts of adversities due to his surgical strike on the currency. He went on elaborating on how it was meticulously and secretly planned and how the opposition was flustered and tried to pick holes. However, on the airport front, not much was spoken about Mopa, except that how the assurance given by former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee has been fulfilled and that Goa will have an inflow of 50 lakh people with the commissioning of the airport. Not a word from the PM on Dabolim.
This was the first address telecast live across India, following the demonetisation announcement. As a follow-up, the Prime Minister may have struck the right chords and mixed emotions with public sentiments. What he subtly skipped is his fight against black money stashed abroad, which his party duly promised before coming to power. An analysis of income-tax data between April 1 and October 31 this financial year projected that the cash component of money acknowledged by black money holders as ill-gotten wealth was just 5%, i.e. Rs 408 crore. Rough estimates suggest that money in overseas banks run into lakhs of crores, although the government has admitted that it doesn’t have any figures. With the PM’s next 50-day plan include a surgical strike on money stashed abroad? Let’s wait and watch.
