Asking For "Extra Time" At BJP Meet, PM Talks Of A "Failed Experiment"

PM Modi added that only a BJP-led government can be strong enough to put an end to corruption.

As several political parties are exploring alliances both at state and national level to stop the BJP-led NDA's return to power in the national election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi trashed the idea of an anti-BJP alliance as a "failed experiment".

PM Modi said the opposition parties are huddling together as they want to form a ''majboor'' (helpless) government to promote nepotism and corruption, whereas the BJP will form a "mazboot" (strong) government that will ensure all-round development.

"We want a strong government so that we can put an end to corruption. These days there is a failed experiment taking place in the country which is known as the grand alliance. They have all gathered together to make a helpless government. They don't want a strong government which will lead to shut down of their shops. They want a helpless government so that they can do good for their relatives," PM Modi said at the BJP's National Convention in Delhi.

After asking for extra time for his speech, PM said that only a BJP-led government can be strong enough to put an end to corruption. "We want a strong government so that we can usher development for everyone (Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas)," he said.

For the first time in the country's history, there has not been a single corruption allegation against the present government, PM Modi said during his 90-minute address.

"The BJP rule has proved that the country can be run without corruption," he added.

Launching a fierce attack on the Congress, PM Modi said, "The government before us pushed the country into darkness. It won't be wrong if I say that India lost 10 important years (2004-2014) in scams and corruption."

The Prime Minister's comments came after two heavyweights from Uttar Pradesh joined hands against the BJP. The state is politically important and the BJP had won maximum seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party led by Mayawati have announced that the two parties will contest an equal number of seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Of the 80 seats in UP, the highest from any state in the country, both SP and BSP will contest 38 seats each. However, the Congress has been kept out of the UP gathbandhan.

PM Modi pointed out that the parties which protested against the Congress, its culture and its corrupt practices are now aligning with it for a mahagathbandhan.

"These parties (the regional parties), which had emerged as options against Congress, have betrayed the people's mandate and trust," the Prime Minister said.

Talking about the coalition governments in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, PM Modi said that when such alliances take shape, the governments in those states work under political compulsions. 

"Chief Minister of Karnataka (HD Kumaraswamy) is saying that he is working like a clerk and not as a chief minister. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the governments are being threatened (by allies) to take back cases or face the consequences," he said terming these incidents as "trailers" before the grand alliance.

He added that politics is done on the basis of ideologies and alliances are made on visions but for the first time it is happening that "when all are uniting against one man".