He also said that rather than fighting a community for political reasons, the country should fight poverty.
After facing brickbats from almost the entire political spectrum for not speaking about the Dadri lynching incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke about maintaining communal harmony for the progress of the nation in his speech in Bihar.
Addressing the crowd in Samastipur, he said, "Hindus and Muslims should work together to fight poverty. The country has to stay united. Only communal harmony and brotherhood will take the nation forward."
He also said that rather than fighting a community for political reasons, the country should fight poverty. "Games being played for political reasons; let's decide, do we want to fight Muslims or poverty."
Modi also asked people to ignore controversial statements made by politicians, adding they are doing so for political gains. Dadri had become a hotspot for politicians and religious leaders alike who broke section 144 there and had allegedly given inflammatory speeches there.
'Everyone should follow the path shown by President', the PM added. President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said the core values of diversity, tolerance and plurality of Indian civilisation must be kept in mind and cannot be allowed to be wasted, in the backdrop of the Dadri murder.
Also read- Bihar polls: AAP demands Election Commission take action against PM Modi over 'casteist' remarks
Taking BJP's battle for Bihar to four different regions, PM Modi today vigorously stirred Bihar's electoral pot, launching a scalding attack on RJD chief Lalu Prasad for his "Hindus also eat beef" comments calling it an "insult" to "Yaduvanshis" and provoking accusations of attempting to communalise the polls.
Modi, whose silence on the Dadri beef lynching incident has been questioned by the opposition, repeatedly targeted Lalu over his remark, terming it as an insult to the "yaduvanshis" (yadava clan) as also Bihar.
Also read- Lalu's beef remarks 'huge insult' to Yadavs, accuses PM Modi
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