"The people of Kanpur understand business and trade well. Before 2017, the perfume of corruption that they had sprinkled all over Uttar Pradesh is there for everyone to see," said PM Modi.

He said, "But now, they are sitting with their mouths shut. They are not coming forward to take credit for the mountain of currency notes seen by the entire country. This is their achievement and their reality."

"The people of Uttar Pradesh are watching and they understand everything. They are with those who are working to take the state forward," he said.

PM Modi said "previous governments" in Uttar Pradesh thought they had "won a lottery to loot the state for five years" but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was working with honesty and accountability".

Akhilesh Yadav, in his comeback at PM Modi, denied any connection between the Samajwadi Party and Piyush Jain. He said the BJP had "its own businessman raided by mistake".

He alleged that Piyush Jain's call detail records would reveal the names of several BJP leaders who were in touch with him.

"By mistake, the BJP got its own businessman raided. Instead of the Samajwadi Party leader Pushpraj Jain, it got Piyush Jain raided," said Akhilesh Yadav.

Piyush Jain, who supplied perfume to a pan masala brand, was raided over six days last week by the Income Tax Department. The raids led to the seizure of a big haul of about Rs 200 crore in cash, 23 kg of gold and 250 kg of silver stashed at his home in Kanpur and factory in Kannauj.

(With inputs from agencies)