Stop indulging in vote bank politics: Modi tells Congress

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday accused the Congress party of "disturbing the social fabric" of India by engaging in "old vote bank politics".

Without naming the party, Modi said "those who have suffered a massive defeat in the elections are still not able to desist from engaging in old vote bank politics", in an obvious reference to the Congress.

"They are engaged in disturbing the social fabric," Modi said at the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) first national council meet here at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium after the general election.

"The BJP never accepts incidents (of violence) which are taking place in the country. Peace, unity and harmony are the pre-requisites for progress and there will be no compromise on this," Modi added.

The statement came after the Congress and other opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party accused the BJP of fanning communal violence in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who led an unprecedented attack on the BJP by trooping to the Lok Sabha speaker's podium Aug 6 to demand a debate on rising communal violence, had said the violence in Uttar Pradesh was "artificially and deliberately engineered".

Modi said that at such a time, BJP workers will have to play a crucial role to ensure communal and national unity so that the nation moves forward.

"When the country makes progress, its 125 crore people make progress," he said.

Talking about his government which was formed after the BJP's landslide victory, the prime minister said "different and tough yardsticks" are being applied to gauge its performance.

"Those who have not done anything for 60 years are asking for our account of 60 days," he said.

Taking a dig at his rivals, he said questions were asked as to "who knows Modi outside Gujarat" but "people were in a mood to give and they gave".