Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the BJP never made promises of transferring Rs 15 lakhs into people's bank accounts during the campaign for Lok Sabha election in 2014.
"Never said that Rs 15 lakh will come (to accounts of people). This was never said. (Bilkul nahi kaha tha ki Rs 15 lakh aenge. Ye kabhi nahi kaha tha). We had said that we will take action (karyawahi) against black money. Action is being taken against black money. It was our government which made SIT on the topic of black money," Rajnath told ANI in an exclusive interview.
His statement comes at a time when opposition parties have been criticing the BJP for having made "false promises" to woo the people of India ahead of 2014 general elections and now repeating it in 2019.
Bringing black money stashed abroad was one of the key issues for 2014 elections and the BJP had promised to crack down on black money parked in foreign banks. In this year's manifesto there is a mention of cracking down on parallel economy but it doesn't occupy pride of place in speeches by political leaders.
The opposition, especially the Congress party, has been quick to point out that the BJP has not delivered on 'bringing back home illegal wealth stashed abroad' as was promised.