Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to rid India of corruption, saying he remains committed to the pledges he made in his election campaign last year to fight graft.

“We have to start from the top,” said Modi on Saturday in a key speech marking India’s Independence Day.

“I want to reaffirm that this nation will get rid of corruption. We can rid the country of corruption,” said Modi, adding, “Corruption is like a termite, it spreads slowly, reaches everywhere, but it can be beaten with timely injections.”

Modi came to power in May 2014, vowing to revive India’s economy and put an end to a string of corruption scandals that plagued the nation during the rule of the Congress Party.

Modi’s drive has been undermined, however, ever since revelations emerged recently that some of his close colleagues in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been embroiled in corruption scandals. Those include Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and the chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states.

Modi did not refer to the reports on those cases in his hour-long Saturday speech, and said instead that there have been no corruption cases under his watch over the past 15 months.

The Hindu nationalist further used the annual address – which marks the anniversary of India’s freedom from British colonial rule in 1947 – to tout the achievements of his administration over the past year.

He scorned the previous administrations, saying that unlike previous officials who were unable to realize their ambitions, his administration has delivered on its promises. Modi then listed some of the accomplishments, such as connecting poor villages to the national electricity grid and building toilets in schools.

A series of key reforms advocated by Modi stalled in the parliament after opposition lawmakers accused BJP members of abusing their positions and wasting public money. The legislators have also accused Modi of lacking the required authority to dismiss corrupt officials.