Invoking threat from Pakistan, Narendra Modi attacks Congress, AAP in Punjab

KOTKAPURA: Pakistan is eagerly waiting for a chance to use the soil of Punjab to destroy India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, warning the electorate against voting a "non-serious" party and "those given to luxurious lifestyle" to power.

Launching an assault on AAP, which has emerged as a key contender to power in the state, Modi branded it as an "outsider" that was "dreaming of creating its own world" at the cost of Punjab.

Holding that the fate of Punjab was linked to that of the nation, he warned that the people of the state as also the country will have to face a "crisis" in case a "government of outsiders and those given to luxurious lifestyle" is voted to power, in an apparent dig at both AAP and Congress.

"When you elect the government you decide not only the fate of Punjab, but that of the country. The fate of the two is linked.

"This is a border state and Pakistan is eagerly awaiting a chance to use the land of Punjab to destroy India. If a non-serious (dheeli-dhaali) government comes, government of outsiders is formed and government of those who lead luxurious lifestyle comes, then it is not that only the people of Punjab who will suffer, but the entire nation will have to face a crisis," he told an election rally here in the heart of Malwa region.

"In this election, to destroy Punjab, it (AAP) is eager to create its own world at the cost of the state. Those who are having such dreams should be sent back to Delhi from where they have come," he said, apparently hitting out at the new entrant AAP, which is contesting the state Assembly elections in the state for the first time.

He also asked the people to first question AAP as to what promises it honoured in Delhi.

"Ask it to first fulfil its responsibility of that place (where the party has its government). Fulfil the promises made to the people of Delhi," the Prime Minister said.

Batting for a third consecutive term for SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab, Modi asserted that the state needed a government which could guarantee safety of the nation.