Third front’s only agenda is to save Congress: Modi

Bhubaneswar, Feb 11: Taking a dig at the efforts by some political parties to set a third front, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Tuesday said such a move has only one purpose – to save the Congress.

Addressing a public meeting here, the Gujarat chief minister said such fronts take birth just before the elections and their only aim is to help the Congress.
Noting that the eastern parts of India have not grown at par with western and central India, he said it happened only because states in the region have been ruled by the so-called third front parties.

“If we want to develop India’s eastern region, we need to teach a lesson to those who have been advocating a third front,” said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader.
“Out of 11 parties who are clamouring for a third front, nine have supported the Congress always and when the elections come, they wear the mask of a third front,” he said.
“The only work of this third front is to save Congress. Whenever the Congress is in trouble, they appear. Unless we identify this third front, we cannot purify Indian politics,” said Modi, kick-starting the party campaign in the state for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Describing the 2014 general elections as an election for “political purification”, he also slammed the Congress for price rise, inflation, and corruption.

Large number of party workers and leaders greeted Modi and gave him a rousing welcome when he landed at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here earlier in the day. Supporters also greeted him with loud cheers, frenzied slogan-shouting and waving of BJP party flags when he started his speech at the venue. A large number of them were sporting saffron caps with ‘Vote for Modi’ written on them.