Bilaspur, November 12: Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi who questioned him on demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the Congress President and his mother Sonia Gandhi were out on bail but issuing "honesty certificates" to others.

"The mother-son duo who are out on bail are giving me a certificate and asking from me the benefits of demonetisation," he said sarcastically at an election meeting here. "Those who are out on bail are distributing certificates of honesty."

The Gandhis have secured bail in the National Herald case. Rahul Gandhi has been questioning Modi about the benefits of note ban and accused the Prime Minister of being silent on the issue.

Slamming the Congress President and UPA Chairperson, Modi said: "Due to demonetisation, over three lakh shell companies were closed. It is the result of demonetisation that your company (National Herald) was caught and you had to seek bail." Rahul Gandhi on Demonetisation: ‘Shrewd Scheme’ to Help PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Suit-Booted Friends’.

Referring to the benefits of demonetisation, the Prime Minister said: "People ask me how I am able to construct so many roads, electrify houses and improve the railway infrastructure. I tell them that before demonetisation the money was stacked up below the beds and stuffed inside cupboards and sacks. But after demonetisation all the money has come out and with that money all the projects of development are going on," he said.

Targeting the Congress President, Modi said that the Congress manifesto released on Saturday had 36 points for the state. "But while releasing the manifesto, their leaders took the name of their leader over 150 times. It was noted by journalists.

"The whole politics of the Congress starts from a family and ends with the same family. While our (BJP) politics starts from the poor man's hut. Without changing the life of the poor, we will not sleep.

"For the Congress, welfare of Chhattisgarh is not a priority. Their priority is to serve one family," he alleged.

Attacking the Congress over corruption, Modi said: "Their third generation Prime Minister (late Rajiv Gandhi) had said that the poor in the country receive 15 paise out of one rupee sent from the centre.

"What kind of scheme was that which reduced the rupee to paisa? The demonetisation brought out those paisa," he thundered.

Modi said that people do not have much expectations from those who are corrupt but expects development from those not corrupt. Highlighting the works of the BJP government in the state, Modi said over 1.5 lakh people got the benefit of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana while over 42 lakh people would benefit with the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

He said the number of the houses the BJP built in the state in the last four years, the Congress would have taken around 30 years to build them. The Prime Minister said the BJP government with a proven track record of development had schemes for all sections of the society.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 12, 2018 02:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).