At Mumbai rally, Narendra Modi claims Congress won't get over 50 seats, tells people not to 'waste' their vote

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday claimed that the Congress won’t get more than 50 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Speaking at an election rally in Mumbai along with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Modi cited a survey to support his claim. “Don’t waste your vote. Better to vote for a party that is coming to power and you can strengthen it with your vote,” Modi said. “The only question now is if the BJP will better its own 2014 tally,” he added. Modi also attacked the Congress for neglecting the police forces force and turning it into a “punching bag” while the party was in power. [caption id=“attachment_6526261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Prime Minister Narendra Modi being garlanded during an election rally in Mumbai. Also seen are Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. PTI[/caption] Modi’s attack on the Opposition party came in the backdrop of a raging controversy over BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s remarks about 26/11 Mumbai terror attack martyr police officer Hemant Karkare. Had it not been for the alertness of Mumbai Police, who have paid a heavy price including martyrdom, the city would have paid a heavier price due to terror activities, he said. “The Congress attitude has been to change chief ministers and home ministers following terror attacks; we have changed that culture,” Modi said. The Congress did not do anything for the security forces, Modi said and underlined his government’s decision to build a police memorial in New Delhi. Modi told the crowd that the Congress insulted them by calling the middle class as selfish and greedy. He underlined the contributions of the middle class and his government’s initiatives for it. “Telephone bills were once a huge part in the list of expenses of the middle class. Due to efforts of our government, calling is almost free now and data is also among the cheapest in the world,” Modi said. The government works with ‘Mumbai first’ agenda and the changes are there to see with work on bullet trains and metro network in progress, he said. In the next few years, Mumbai will have 275 kilometres of metro network, Modi said.