Grand alliance a failed idea: Modi

Days after BSP and SP announced they would fight upcoming state elections independent of Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday debunked the Opposition efforts to cobble together a grand alliance in 2019 as a "failed idea".

He asked party workers to drive home the message to electorates how political parties at loggerheads all the time have joined hands just to capture power.

"These parties constantly fight with each other but they come together when there's an occasion to form a government as we saw in Karnataka. Similar efforts are underway in UP and MP," Modi said, flagging the internal contradictions of any such grand alliance, during an interaction with BJP workers of five Lok Sabha constituencies via video conferencing.

As BJP is seeking to project the 2019 poll battle as Modi versus all ganged those up against him, the Prime Minister asked the party workers not to bother about the grand alliance as "those who are out on bail are forced to come together to find a way to save themselves. They are not uniting for the benefit of the people but for the sole purpose of removing Modi."

The assembly elections in five states, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, could provide broad indications of the course electoral politics of the country will take in 2019 general elections. Both, the Opposition and the BJP-led NDA, are gearing up for the nerve-racking Assembly polls, which is considered a sort of semifinal.

In the backdrop of the Opposition trying to project the flight of Bihar-UP workers from Modi's home state Gujarat due to violence triggered by a rape incident, the Prime Minister accused the Congress of dividing the society.

While the politics of symbolism is on in this poll season and both BJP and Congress are vying with each other to woo different caste groups through their icons, the Prime Minister said his government unveiling the statue of Sir Chhotu Ram, a farmer leader from Jat community in Haryana, or his Swachh Bharat Mission should not be linked to polls.

Targets Cong

Training guns on "people who used to be in power earlier" for feeling "ashamed" of the country's culture instead of taking pride in it, Modi recalled how he takes even foreign delegates to attend "Ganga Aarti" whenever they visit India and the positive impact it had on countrymen.

He said for decades after Independence, it was believed that India was a land of snake charmers and rat catchers, and what was worst was that the political outfit which ruled the country for decades promoted these ridiculous notions, he alleged.