'Modi-mukt' country after 2019: Congress leader C P Joshi

RAIPUR: Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity was declining, senior Congress leader C P Joshi today said there will be a "Modi-mukt Bharat" after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"There will be 'Modi-mukt Bharat' (Modi-free India) after 2019 (elections)," he said, speaking to reporters as the NDA government at the Centre completed two years in office.

States like Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which send a sizable number of MPs, will decide who becomes the PM and BJP has no presence or allies in these states, he said.

"In West Bengal, when Modi was aspiring for the Prime Minister's post, BJP's vote share was 17 per cent. Now it's 10 per cent (in the Asembly elections). More than 200 of its candidates lost deposits in Tamil Nadu. They lost in Delhi and Bihar. This clearly shows Modi has lost his popularity," he said.

On Congress' plans of stiching up major alliances in future, Joshi said, "Wherever we are strong, we are going alone. Wherever we feel we have to defeat BJP taking the secular parties together, we are forming secular alliances."

Accusing the Modi government of making hollow promises, he said it neither brought back the black money nor created jobs for youths.

On the pretext of 'Make in India', the Modi government was promoting specific companies which did not have experience in the sectors concerned, he alleged.