India stands as one against ‘evil designs’ of enemies: Modi

New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) In a veiled attack on Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India "stands as one" against the "evil designs" of its "enemy" which was hatching a conspiracy to destabilise the country and stop its progress with terror attacks while he expressed confidence that he will return to power in the elections.

Interacting with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers through video conference, he also urged people not to do anything which may hurt the morale of the security forces.

"When the enemy hatches a conspiracy to destabilise the country and conducts terror attacks, its target is to stop our progress... We all need to stand united against its design. We have to show them this country is not going to stop its progress," Modi said.

"The enemy tries to destabilise us, carries out terror attacks, they want to stop our growth. All countrymen are standing like a rock to counter their evil designs."

Modi said Indian soldiers were showing their courage and valour and the country was united behind its forces as "the world is witnessing our collective will".

"Our soldiers are at the borders for the country's safety and security... It is because they are there, the nation can reach new levels of development. We are citizens of a valiant country. We all need to work hard for the country's prosperity and pride.

"I am confident that nothing should happen that will impact the morale of our forces."

Modi said, "India will live as one, work as one, grow as one, fight as one and win as one."

The Prime Minister also expressed confidence of winning the Lok Sabha elections, and urged the party workers not to commit any mistake so that there are no regrets later.

"I am confident that I will get another opportunity to serve the people of the country for the next five years as we have fulfilled the promises made to the people... If there are weaknesses in our efforts, all work done in the last five years will be ruined," Modi said.

Giving the example of the new Congress governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Modi alleged that they had been trying to ruin the schemes initiated by previous governments.

He said the election in 2014 was to fulfil the needs of the country and the 2019 battle will be meet the expectations of every citizen.

Modi also dismissed the 'mahagatbandhan' (grand alliance) of Opposition parties as 'mahamilavat' (highly adulterated) and said it would send the country to the intensive care unit (ICU), adding that the people of the country are very wise.

He said that the opposition parties, who earlier never spoke to each other, were today standing shoulder to shoulder with each other.

"But today people know well that they are opportunist, dynast and corrupt," he said.

The Prime Minister also said that the Congress, which earlier ruled the entire country has gone so weak that it was joining hands with other small parties to keep itself alive.

He also termed the 2019 elections as a fight between two culture. "The culture of BJP is based on democracy, where for every work, opinion of all is taken democratically. Whereas on the other hand which has Congress and other parties, their culture of working is based upon dynasty," he said.

Modi claimed that the saffron party will gain more seats in the southern states.

Giving examples, he said the coalition government of Karnataka was not able to live up to the expectations of the people.

"Even the people of Kerala are sick of UDF and LDF governments while the people of Andhra Pradesh have anger against the Congress and TDP. In Tamil Nadu we have an alliance with AIADMK. Therefore, I can expect a better performance in South India." Modi said.

The Prime Minister also urged the social media volunteers of the party not to share fake news or information on the social media platform.

He said: "Social media is a democratic media and it has brought awareness in the society. And in 2019 elections, social media volunteers of the party will play an important role."

Urging the social media volunteers to share the numerous works of the government on the social media, he asked them to refrain from sharing negative talks and fake information.

Modi also said that the middle class of the country was not harmed by the government's decision of demonetisation and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

He said: "After the demonetisation, we won elections in Uttar Pradesh. And after the implementation of the GST we won elections in Gujarat. So it was not that the middle class which did not vote for us."

Targeting the previous governments, Modi said, "Earlier governments never bothered about the middle class. And the middle class would have never imagined that the government will give full tax rebate to the people earning up to Rs 5 lakh."

"They are the biggest tax payers and their demands are also very small," he said, adding that the government did a lot of pro-people work which directly benefited the middle class people of the country.