Congress rule gives a boost to corruption, inflation and high taxation, Prime Minister said on Friday.

Addressing an election rally here, the Prime Minister said, "Whenever Congress party comes to power, three things increase - corruption, inflation and high taxation. In 2014, inflation was an issue but today even our opponents are not talking about it."

PM Modi claimed that his government has taken stringent action against corruption."Due to stringent actions against corruption, some people are in jail and some are out on bail. You voted for me in 2014, I took "naamdars" to jail, vote for me in 2019 and I will put them inside (jail)," said PM Modi.

He also accused the Congress party and its leaders of insulting the middle class by allegedly calling them "selfish" and "greedy".

"Congress calls you (middle class) greedy and selfish. Is not this an insult to you? Look at their "Dhakosla Patra". They have not mentioned anything about the middle class. Congress wants to burden the middle class with taxes to protect the political capital of a family," he said here.

Taking a dig at the former Union Finance minister P Chidambaram, PM said, "An economist was Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) and one who thought of himself as the god of wisdom was the Finance minister. The country kept demanding (tax rebate) but he did not pay heed to it."

"Due to the efforts of our government, calling has become free and even data is cheapest in the world," the PM said.

Interestingly, Mukesh Ambani's son Ananth Ambani was also present during the Prime Minister's rally.

Predicting the poll performance of the Congress party to be on similar lines as that of last elections in 2014, PM Modi said, "All the surveys conducted in the country are discussing if the Congress party will cross 44 and reach 50 (seats) or it will remain below that."

He also accused the Congress party of failing to respect policemen who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

"Very few people are aware that 33,000 policemen sacrificed their lives in the line of duty but the Congress never cared to honour them. But, when this "chowkidar" came to power, we constructed a grand Police Memorial in New Delhi," he said.

The Prime Minister claimed that he made the country shed its inhibitions when it comes to responding to terror attacks.

"After 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008, people kept questioning as to how long they will keep suffering. For how long will the terrorists not be punished for their deeds. As per your wish, I made the country shed that inhibition," he said.

"We made it clear that we will hit the terrorists in their backyard," said the PM.

The Prime Minister also praised the middle class for their "contribution" to nation building.

Of the 48 seats at stake in Maharashtra, 31 went to polls in the first three phases. The rest 17 will poll on April 29. The results will be announced on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)