The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, on Friday observed that the Congress was forging new alliances and soliciting support from non-governmental organisations to prevent him from leading a new government at the Centre.
Addressing election rallies in the Bathinda, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituencies of Punjab, where polling is scheduled for April 30, Mr. Modi told the people that the Congress would draw a blank in many States and nowhere would its tally touch double digits.
He said the people who had voted in the elections so far had laid the foundation for a strong government at the Centre by emphatically rejecting the UPA government. “The voters in the next phases will contribute in building that government,” he said.
Mr. Modi said if he went on to form the next NDA government at the Centre, he would launch a “homes for all” movement, as a tribute to freedom fighters, when the country celebrates the 75th anniversary of its Independence in 2022.
“Everyone should have a home with power connection and toilets. There should be hospitals for old people with ample medicine stock,” he said, adding that the movement would also provide employment opportunities for the youth.
Mr. Modi said that he regretted having to use strong words to criticise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the real power was vested with the “mother-son duo”. This, he said, was evident from The Accidental Prime Minister, the book written by the PM’s former media adviser Sanjaya Baru.
