PM in Varanasi: Note ban is a big cleanliness drive, says Modi | Top quotes

Tearing into the Opposition over its attack on the government over the demonetisation move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he had never thought some political leaders and parties would have the audacity to stand with the corrupt.

Terming the currency ban as a big cleanliness drive, Modi said that people have openly supported the exercise aimed at curbing corruption black money and terrorism.

Here are the highlights from PM Modi's speech:

# A yound leader is learning to deliver speech: Modi in a veiled attack on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi

# I have inherited poverty from the UPA government

# By saying that 50% of Indians are poor and are not tech savvy, the Opposition has shown us their report card

# I have faith in the strength of 125 crore Indians. People of India are selfless. Blessings of people are like blessings of the almighty

# Note ban is a big cleanliness drive

# I had never thought some political leaders would have the audacity to stand with the corrupt

# People are supporting our 'cleanliness drive'

# We have a lot of human resource capability in India

(With inputs from agencies)