Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that the Congress and other opposition parties were pursuing vote bank politics which had destroyed the country like "termites" over the last seven decades.
"The politics of vote bank has destroyed the country like termites," Modi said.
"They (opponents) are doing it just for the sake of saving their chair even at the cost of damaging the social fabric. But we believe in 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' (support of all, development for all)," he said.
Referring to instant triple talaq issue, Modi said the practice is not acceptable even in Islamic countries.
"Even the party with a woman at the helm is not concerned about our Muslim sisters. This is the deformed face of vote bank politics," he said, hitting out at the Congress for its stand on the recently promulgated ordinance.
The Congress had earlier accused the Modi government of treating the issue of instant triple talaq "more as a political football than a matter of justice to Muslim women".
Modi said, "It is the responsibility of BJP workers to protect the country from vote bank politics which has destroyed the country in the past 70 years."
He was addressing the BJP's 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh', attended by a large number of party workers, ahead of the Assembly elections due later this year in Madhya Pradesh and four other states.
He also exhorted BJP workers to follow the mantra of 'mera booth, sabse mazboot' (my polling booth, the strongest) to ensure the party's victory in the coming elections.
BJP chief Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also present at the rally.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)