BJP victim of 'political untouchability': Modi

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday blasted the political pundits for still dubbing the BJP as the ''party of the Hindi heartland'' and said that the saffron party was a victim of ''political untouchability'', that had been rising in the country.

Addressing party workers in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi during his Thanksgiving visit after his massive victory in the just concluded general elections in the country, Modi also said that the pundits must have now realised that social chemistry was more powerful than arithmetic.

He also said that BJP had suffered ''most'' from the ''culture of violence'' in today's politics and hundreds of its workers had been killed in West Bengal, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Tripura.

''We are the biggest party in Karnataka....we have governments in Assam, Goa....in northeastern states and yet we are dubbed as the party of the Hindi heartland,'' he said.

Apparently referring to the Congress, the prime minister said that there was a deliberate attempt to create a perception in the country that people should be afraid of the BJP.

''During the past 70 years some people tried to ensure that the right perception was not made about themselves (Nehru-Gandhi family),'' Modi remarked.

''BJP has been a victim of political untouchability.....we have suffered most from the culture of violence....our workers have been martyred in West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura and J &K...they are still being killed,'' he said.

He said that he had encountered this attitude as the chief minister of Gujarat. ''The critics pounced on the cine personalities, when they, upon my request, promoted tourism in Gujarat,'' he added.

Modi, apparently referring to the 'mahagathbandhan', said that the results of the polls in Uttar Pradesh were unique in the sense that they had punctured the political pundits' assumptions that arithmetic would triumph.

''They will now realise that social chemistry is more powerful than arithmetic....in UP this time this chemistry has defeated arithmetic,'' he remarked.

''If even now the pundits fail to get the message then they are irrelevant in this century,'' Modi said.

The prime minister said that he was for taking the opposition along. ''We are all for a strong opposition,'' he added.

Earlier Modi, who began his address with the chant of 'har har Mahadev', paid obeisance at the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.