Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Sep 26

Divisiveness is in the DNA of the Congress and it has to be ousted to protect India's integrity, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said Thursday.

Addressing a huge rally of over 200,000 people, Modi said: "Divisive nature is in the genes of Congress... If the nation's integrity has to be protected, then we have to understand Congress' DNA. Congress is divisive in its thinking, speech and other aspects."

Mahatma Gandhi understood this and wanted the Congress to be disbanded soon after independence, said Modi who began his speech in Tamil and spoke for about two minutes in it before switching over to a mixture of Hindi and English.

"If the nation has to be saved, then it should be freed from Congress, its allies and others supporting them," he said in the Tamil Nadu town, some 350 km from Chennai, from a dais designed like the Red Fort.

He said it was the Congress that gave "separate status" for Kashmir under the Indian constitution.

He began his address with a request to observe two-minute silence in memory of the Indian security personnel who lost their lives in the terror attack in Kashmir Thursday and those Indians who lost their lives in the terror attack in a Nairobi mall earlier this week.

Modi wondered whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart under foreign pressure when Indian soldiers are getting killed.

Seeking to reach out to people of Tamil Nadu, Modi quoted Tamil poet Ramalingam Pillai who said the Tamilian race has a special quality. "The special qualities are a hard-working nature, sincerity and loyalty."

Declaring his interest in knowing about Tamil literature, he said Tamil is one of the few ancient languages that are still alive.

Drawing comparisons between the two states, Modi said said if Mahatma Gandhi hailed from Gujarat, his conscience keeper Rajaji (C.Rajagopalachari) hailed from Tamil Nadu. There is substantial population of Tamilians in Gujarat and Gujaratis in Tamil Nadu, he said.

"Mani Nagar in Gujarat - my own constituency is termed as mini Tamil Nadu. Large number of Tamil voters have voted for me," Modi said.

Like milk and sugar, people of both the states mixed well with each other, he said.

Referring to the attacks on Gujarati fishermen by Pakistan and Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lanka, he said a weak United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre should be defeated.

If a nation is weak, other countries will think that they can do anything and get away, he said.

A country may be small or big but when its self-respect is hurt, then it would rise against the assault, he said, citing the example of Brazil which stood up against the US after coming to know that the latter had spied on it.

Coming down heavily on the UPA's economic policies, Modi, citing economists, said if the government continues for another term then there will be massive job loss.

The rally was held a day after the BJP showed a united face in Bhopal where Modi, L.K.Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and others addressed a huge gathering.

BJP general secretary Muralidhar Rao said even small neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives do not listen to India.

"This is the failure of the UPA government. The government considers BJP as its enemy. Instead why not consider Pakistan and China as the nation's enemy?" he asked.

According to Rao, the Modi wave is sweeping not only Gujarat but also in other parts of the country.

Police rounded up around 100 people protesting against Modi.

By:IANS