Narendra Modi's fierce poll pitch; says 2014 a year of 'lotus & Modi'

NEW DELHI: Drawing parallels between the 1857 revolt and the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday said, "In 1857 he slogan was 'kamal aur roti', in 2014 it is 'kamal aur Modi'."

Slamming the UPA government at the centre for not treating the country's soldiers 'properly', Modi said, " Congress plays with emotions of soldiers, but never give a solution." "If Atal ji had won in 2004 then things would be different," he added.

Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat, Modi also hit out at Congress for its agricultural policies, saying, "For Congress, 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' has turned into 'Mar jawan mar kisan'."

He also accused Congress of playing vote-bank politics. "The only thing Congress is interested is in creating communal disharmony."

On Friday, Modi said people will "punish" Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. "People will vote not only for bringing a change, but also to punish the Delhi government (UPA). They (UPA government) have ruined the country in the past decade. People are in a mood to punish Congress," Modi told a huge rally of tribals at Kondagaon district headquarters in the insurgency-hit Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

The UPA government has broken every record on corruption, he said. "Jal, sthal and nabh (water, land and sky), wherever they got chance, they indulged in corruption," he said.

Referring to former Prime Minister, late Rajiv Gandhi's statement that of the one rupee given by the Centre only 15 paise reach the end-beneficiary, Modi said even at that time Congress was in power from Centre to the village-level.