India doesn't want poison of communalism, needs development: Narendra Modi

Gohana: BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, under attack from critics for 2002 riots in Gujarat, on Saturday said the country did not want "poison of communalism" and needed safety and development instead.

Claiming that people were fed up of promises and empty talk, Modi, addressing a rally here, said he had come with the "intent" to deliver.

Targetting Congress, Modi said it had made promises galore but that alone could not bring development or change in the system.

"The country is fed up of promises, what matters is the intent. I have come with the intent. Congress has made scores of promises....But people need development and not division," he told the gathering.

Trying to project himself as someone who can usher in development, Modi said people needed opportunities and not opportunism.

"People need skill and not machinations. They need jobs and not politics. They need safety and not the poison of communalism," he said.

Modi asked the gathering to vote for BJP and its allies in Haryana and shun other parties who spoke about supporting his candidature for the post of the Prime Minister.

BJP has aligned with Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) in the state while leaders of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have reportedly made comments in the past saying that they could support Modi as PM if the need arose.

"Don't see the situation through someone else's spectacles," he said apparently weaving in a reference to ‘spectacles’, which is INLD's election symbol. "It is only BJP's poll symbol 'kamal' (lotus) which can make Modi the Prime Minister of India," he said.