'Opposition 'mahagatbandhan' will send country to ICU'

Once again targeting the Opposition efforts to form a 'grand alliance', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the 'mahagathbandhan' is not aimed at forming a government led by the Congress but to breathe oxygen to the Rahul Gandhi-led party to keep it alive.

Emphasising that 2014 was a mandate for fulfilling people's necessities while 2019 election will be about fulfilling people's aspirations, he also said that a loss for the BJP like in 2004 would put the clock backwards on development works, replace ease of doing business with ease of corruption.

Modi tore into the Congress and other Opposition parties saying his party men should stop calling it a "grand alliance" but a highly adulterated 'mahamilawat', which will send the country into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Modi's remarks came at a video conference, which the BJP dubbed as the world's largest such exercise when a party worker from Jhargam in West Bengal asked the Prime Minister's views on the grand alliance. He had first called the grand alliance a 'mahamilawat' early this month in Lok Sabha while replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President.

"Stop calling it a grand alliance. Call it a 'mahamilawat'. Congress is fighting for its existence. This exercise is not to form a Congress government. The whole effort is to make Congress remain alive. This was one party which had a unit in every panchayat. They need oxygen to breathe," Modi said.

While reminding the Congress about the 1998 'Panchmadi Conclave' resolution against entering into coalitions, he said the Congress now with the help of other smaller parties trying to build a coalition.

The Prime Minister said the alliance is the "story of Congress' weakness", as the party which had units in every panchayat had stooped to this level.

"This combination is like mixing oil and water. Both oil and water will be of no use if it is mixed. Who are these parties which have come together? These are those who do not see eye to eye. They now stand shoulder to shoulder," he said.

Modi added, "what did the Samajwadi Party cadre do to Mayawati (when they attacked her in 1995)? How did the Left and Mamata Banerjee deal with each other? What are the relations between the (Congress-led) UDF and (CPIM-led) LDF in Kerala? Why did Sharad Pawar leave Congress? Don't think people are fools. This can put the country in the ICU. It can have an effect on TV screens, but not in the minds of people."

People think about them as "opportunist and dynastic", he said adding "five years of work is just a trailer. If we could do so much in five years, just imagine what can we do in the coming five years".

"Others are scared of a Majboot sarkar and want a majboor government so that things would go on like earlier. But you have to work for a majbooth government," he said.

He also accused the recently-elected Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan of not taking forward social welfare measures initiated by the BJP governments in these states.