In a scathing attack on the Congress, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the previous UPA government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the “most corrupt” and “leaderless”.

In a press conference in Surat, ahead of the first phase of Gujarat polls on December 9, Jaitley said during the ten years of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the Centre, it was said that the PM is a PM in office but not in power.

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“The 10 years of governance before Modi Ji’s govt was the most corrupt govt we have ever seen. It was a leaderless govt. It was said that the then PM is a PM in office but not in power,” Jaitley said.

Noting that while BJP had maintained its credibility, and Congress was slowly becoming extinct, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said unlike previous regime, the present government was undertaking reforms by conviction.

“In 1990s the reforms were taken under compulsion but the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is undertaking reforms by conviction,” Jaitley said.

“Foreign investments had completely stopped at a point in India. Today we have come up by 42 positions in the World ranking of Ease of Doing Business,” he added.

The assembly polls in Gujarat will be held on December 9 and 14. The results for the 182-member assembly will be declared on December 18.