PM accuses Modi of resorting to falsehoods, twisting facts

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday lashed out at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, accusing him of resorting to falsehoods to target rivals, saying he is twisting facts for political gains.

Addressing a rally here, he blamed BJP for bringing down the standard of political discourse and vitiating political atmosphere, asking people to "think seriously" what the party which believes in "demeaning others" will do to the country.

"In his zeal to malign others, a big BJP leader often resorts to falsehoods. He frequently distorts historical facts. Once in his enthusiasm to attack Congress, he misrepresented facts about a leader who is respected a lot in BJP," he said in an apparent reference to Modi.

In a hard-hitting speech, Singh took jibes at BJP and said its enthusiasm was confined to criticising others. It was only interested in leveling personal attacks on other leaders, he said.

"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," Singh said, accusing BJP of starting it all.

He asked people to defeat Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh, saying the BJP-ruled state lags on several development indices.

The infant mortality rate is more than many other states and 20 states lead MP in literacy rate, he said, adding that literacy among women is lower in MP than the national average.

"The sex ratio in MP has gone down to 912 from 932. It is behind 22 other states in per capita income. The condition of roads is very poor. Looking at these facts I am surprised that BJP leaders speak about its development," the prime minister said.

Singh said the UPA government allocated a sum of Rs 83,000 crore to the state for various developmental measures and the money approved this year was 27 per cent more than that last year.

He spoke of 20 big projects worth over Rs 18,500 crore started by UPA in the state.

"The life of people in Madhya Pradesh could have improved a lot through proper implemention of the schemes started by the Congess-less government. I regret to say that the BJP government has not been able to make full use of them," he said.

Asking the opposition to look at UPA's record before levelling allegations of lack of development under its rule, he said the country achieved record growth in last nine years.

"No other decade has seen economic growth at such a rate. Poverty has come down to a third as compared to the past. Income in the rural areas has grown at a faster rate," he said and referred to about laws like RTE Act, Food Security Act and NREGA enacted by his government for the welfare of the people.