Standard of political debate has gone down: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday expressed concern at the falling standards of political discourse in the country and said the BJP was only interested in personal attacks on other leaders.

Addressing a public meeting at the Ravi Shankar Shukla stadium in Jabalpur, ahead of the Nov 25 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the prime minister criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi over the latter's gaffes.

"A senior BJP leader frequently distorts historical facts and once in his enthusiasm to attack Congress, he misrepresented facts about a leader who is respected a lot in BJP," the prime minister said.

He hit out at the BJP, saying its enthusiasm was confined to criticising others.

"It is good for our democracy that political parties have enthusiasm. But it should be for constructive work. This should be used to tell people what good they will do if voted to power. It seems to me, though, that the enthusiasm of BJP leaders is all about condemning others," he said.

"In the last few months, we are seeing a lot of negative politics and the standard of political debate has gone down drastically," the prime minister said.

Modi has attracted a lot of criticism for his personal jibes at Congress leaders, including party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

He also compared the achievements of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh with that in the rest of the nation.

"Poverty in India has reduced three-fold... Polio has been eradicated for two years now... In Madhya Pradesh, infant mortality is the highest and 20 states are ahead of MP in literacy," he told voters.

"I have come to tell you about the work you have seen the Congress do for nine years. Our goal is economic progress that brings prosperity to all. I ask all those who say we have not worked hard enough to analyse our track record," the prime minister said.

"I have full faith you will not vote for a party that endorses divisiveness," he said.