PM Narendra Modi addressing an election campaign rally ahead of Maharashtra assembly elections, at Kharghar in... Read More

In the backdrop of the Enforcement Directorate issuing a notice to Sharad Pawar confidant Praful Patel for an alleged financial deal between a company promoted by his family and the kin of Dawood Ibrahim aide Iqbal Memon "Mirchi," PM Narendra Modi said at a rally in Akola on Wednesday it would soon be clear who had helped the perpetrators of the 1993 Mumbai blasts flee and take shelter in "enemy territory".

Dawood, Tiger Memon and other key accused in the case fled to Pakistan soon after the serial blasts . The opposition at the time had accused the then Pawar-led Maharashtra government of being hand-in-glove with the underworld, a charge denied by Pawar and his associates.

Without taking any names, Modi told the gathering, "Do you remember the blasts that took place in Maharashtra and especially in Mumbai in trains, in buses, and in buildings? The perpetrators of the massacre fled and took shelter in enemy territory."

"People have been asking how this happened. A new chapter will reveal who helped these perpetrators to flee and what their relations with the perpetrators were, business, commercial or otherwise," the PM said. He added that those implicated know that they are going to be exposed. They are panicking and are trying to divert attention by raising irrelevant topics. But people will seek answers from them for their misdeeds," he noted.

Launching an attack against the opposition, the PM described the Congress-NCP pact as " bhrashtawadi " (corrupt) and blamed it for pushing the state back by decades due to its corrupt practices.

At another rally in Kharghar, Modi attacked the builder mafia and its alleged links with politicians from the Congress and NCP. "We (BJP) will show no mercy for this mafia and their links with some politicians. We are cleaning up the real estate business through laws like Rera," he stated. Modi reiterated that the Centre was committed to spending Rs 3.5 lakh crore to solve drought and water-related problems in the country in the next five years.

