Modi sharply attacked recent moves by the Congress for an OBC quota for backward Muslims and said that this was nothing but a “last ditch effort” to indulge in “vote bank politics and politics of appeasement on the eve of elections”.
The Congress was making such a promise knowing fully well that they cannot implement it, he said, adding, “I must also say that it exposes the true ‘secular' character of the party which aims to garner votes on the basis of religion.”
Asked if he subscribed to the view that the current election campaign was the most polarised one in India's democratic history, Modi said that he agreed “in a way” that it is a polarised election but “the polarisation is of a different kind this time”.
He said, “polarisation is inherent in a democracy. It is natural for people holding different viewpoints to think and vote differently. But it is not an undesirable thing. It is the kind of polarisation happening that matters”.
The Gujarat Chief Minister was of the view that the polarisation in this election was between those who believed in the inclusive politics of development and good governance and against who believe in divisive politics of vote banks, caste and religion.
