"Just like labourers, wealth creators should be respected": PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview with India Today, said that he has been very clear that wealth creators should be treated with respect and just like he treats the hard work done by labourers with dignity, he respects the wealth of his country's capitalist class as well.
"I say from the ramparts of the Red Fort that wealth creators should be respected in the country. Those who are successful, and have resources, should be known for their prestige. Why should multinational companies of my country not flourish abroad?" PM Modi said.
"If someone has betrayed the country then he should be hanged. If he has taken unfair means, he should be hanged. But I will be respecting wealth creators in my country. Just like I treat the sweat of my country's labourers with dignity, I respect the wealth of my country's capitalist class as well," he added.
In an attack on the Gandhi family, PM Modi said that just like former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru used to get questioned for allegedly being favourable to big industrialists Tatas and Birlas, they believe that Prime Minister Modi should get his share of his abuse as well.
"The problem with this family is that it is under (ancestral) burden. Nehru used to be questioned as 'Birla Tata ki sarkar' throughout his political career. Now the problem with this family is that they believe that Modi should also face the same abuse that their grandfather received," he said.
PM Modi also claimed that the issue of the Rafael 'scam' was brought up deliberately to cleanse their party's image of the Bofors scandal.
"Why did they bring up the Rafael issue? They thought that if they brought up the Rafael issue they would be absolved of the sins of the Bofors scam. That is they brought it up. It is a psychological problem," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also claimed that the Gandhis are making such heightened efforts in this Lok Sabha poll because they fear that if PM Modi wins his third term, the latter would rise to the stature of Jawaharlal Nehru.
"They (Gandhi) had never made such effort in an election before. Why are they doing so now? They think that if Modi comes to power for the third time, their father, and grandmother will lose their respect and Modi will rise to a similar stature like Nehru. They compare everything to these things. The abuse that they give has been taken on loan from somewhere else," he said.