India needs strong leadership, says Narendra Modi

Rewari (Haryana): BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday made a strong pitch for “strong leadership” at the Centre.
In his 65-minute-long address, Modi made several references to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was considered a moderate in the BJP, and to the “true secularism” prevailing among Indian Armed Forces.
“The politics of vote banks has become disgusting in our country. Politicians who want to divide the society through vote bank politics, should learn true secularism from our armed forces,” he told the rally attended by former Army chief Gen VK Singh and a large number of ex-servicemen.
“I can say with authority that if this happens, Pakistan will see the progress that it has not seen in the last 60 years (since it got independence),” he said.
Modi said Pakistan had “converted India into a war zone through its war mindset and support for terrorism.” Earlier, the war used to take place on the border. But when you (Pakistan) could not defeat the Indian Army, you started going for killing innocent citizens.
“Killing innocents through cross border terrorism is neither going to help Pakistan nor India,” he said. Amid cheers, Modi went on: “You cannot progress with anti-India tirade. You cannot progress on this basis… For you own interests and for the youth of your country, you should rethink the wrong path you have chosen in the last 60 years and step back.”
“I want to tell the rulers whether it is of Bangladesh, India or Pakistan: if we have to fight, we should fight against poverty, illiteracy and other ills,” the Chief Minister said.
Thousands of people, including former soldiers, turned up for Modi’s first public rally as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.