New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav traded charges on Tuesday over the seizure of crores of rupees in cash from Kanpur-based perfume trader Piyush Jain.
Addressing a rally in Kanpur, PM Modi said the "perfume of corruption" sprinkled by SP before 2017 all over Uttar Pradesh was there for everyone to see.
"Boxes filled with notes that have come out, I was thinking they (Samajwadi Party) will say that this was also done by us. The people of Kanpur understand business and trade well. Before 2017, the perfume of corruption that they had sprinkled all over Uttar Pradesh is there for everyone to see," PM Modi said.
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"But now, they are sitting with their mouths shut. They are not coming forward to take credit for the mountain of currency notes seen by the entire country. This is their achievement and their reality," PTI quoted PM Modi as saying'
The Prime Minister was referring to the recovery of Rs 257 crore in cash, 25 kg of gold and 250 kg of silver during tax raids on perfume trader Piyush Jain's house in Kanpur.
"The previous governments in Uttar Pradesh used to think they had won a lottery to loot the state for five years, but the double-engine government today is working with honesty and accountability," PM Modi further said.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi inaugurated a section of the Kanpur metro project and the 356-km-long Bina-Panki multi-product pipeline project.
Responding to PM Modi's remark, Akhilesh Yadav said the SP had no links with the Kanpur businessman.
Addressing the media before the "Samajwadi Rath Yatra", Akhilesh Yadav said the call detail record of the businessman's phone would reveal the names of several BJP leaders who were in touch with him.
"By mistake, the BJP got its own businessman raided. Instead of SP leader Pushpraj Jain, it got Piyush Jain raided," Akhilesh said.
"Even television channels that were flashing the news that the house of an SP man has been raided when the raids started realised by afternoon that it was not true and hence, stopped saying it," PTI quoted the SP chief as saying.
Akhilesh said that the seizure of the huge amount of cash from the Kanpur-based businessman proved that demonetisation and the GST had failed.