Upcoming Polls Are Election of Hope: Modi

 Describing the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as an "election of hope", Narendra Modi has said he wants to rid the nation of bad governance, vote bank politics, dynastic rule, corruption and misuse of constitutional institutions which were "nourished" by Congress governments.

The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate said the "biggest crisis" facing the nation is that people have lost confidence not only in the institution of the Prime Minister but the "very institution of the government" that is crucial to run the government.

He listed his priorities as boosting job creation, skill development, enhancing farm produce, industrial production, healthcare, reservation and empowerment of women and stepping up security measures.

"When I speak about the 'Congress-free India', I mean freedom from the work culture that the Congress has given to this nation during the last 60 years. The culture it has nourished.

"By this, I mean freedom from politics of vote bank, the politics of grabbing power through these means. The country hasn't witnessed such a naked dance of corruption that it has seen during the last 10 years," he told ETV in an interview.

Elaborating on the explanation for the slogan, he said a 'Congress-free India' necessarily means an India "free from bad governance, free from dynastic rule, free from the misuse of constitutional institutions, free from inflation, free from crises of different kinds."

On the upocoming polls, he said, "This election of 2014 does not leave any scope for negativity. This is an 'election of hope'. This is happening for the first time in India."

Alleging that Congress has become a "synonym" of all the ills, Modi said if the country gets the right kind of leadership, people will follow the right path and the system will improve.

To buttress his point, he cited the work done by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre and BJP governments led by him in Gujarat, Shivraj Singh Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan.

"BJP doesn't believe in making hollow promises. It gives results. It works for the poor," he said.

Asked about his priorities, the Gujarat Chief Minister said his policies and programmes will be aimed at uplift of the poor by bringing out the system from "the current inertia", infusing life into it and making it dynamic.

Alleging that the schemes of Congress were all directed at the politics of vote bank, he said, "They (Congress) have brought the nation to this sorry state of affairs. In such circumstances, our priorities must change."

He said employment to the youth and skill development are the priority in the whole world and that these can be implemented just through a commitment.

"All we need is facilitating skill development for our youth, give them opportunities for employment... Why not train them to meet their requirements. These are small things but make a big difference," Modi said.