Narendra Modi's dig at Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party

Panaji: Narendra Modi, in an apparent reference to the media attention that Arvind Kejriwal and his rookie Aam Aadmi Party are getting, has suggested that the country needs "constructive vision on the ground" and not just leaders who make good television.

The Congress wants to know if AAP's emergence has made the BJP's prime ministerial candidate "nervous."

Mr Modi had tweeted soon after a rally in Goa on Sunday evening, "People must decide - will good happen by constantly being on TV screens or through constructive and development-oriented vision on ground."

At the rally, he made a veiled  attack on AAP leaders for their "lack of experience" and said the country needed "people who have experience to take it forward and we are determined to do that".

He put forth his candidacy as that experienced leader. "I have been serving Gujarat for 12 years. On TV screens and pages of newspapers, I have always lost and could never win them over. But I have never lost in people's hearts," said Mr Modi. (Highlights of Narendra Modi's speech)

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The Congress' Shakeel Ahmed tweeted this morning, "Modi's criticism of Congress is understandable, but of late he has started criticising AAP too. Is he really nervous by AAP's emergence?"

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party has captured headlines ever since it made a spectacular debut in the Delhi Assembly elections last month. It won 28 seats and Mr Kejriwal now heads a minority government in the capital with support from the Congress.

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After its success in Delhi, the year-old party has announced plans to contest the national elections due by May and has recently inducted several high-profile members.

The AAP announcement has given a new twist to the 2014 Lok Sabha battle, so far seen as a direct contest between Mr Modi's BJP and the Congress.

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