Plough, not guns, brings harvest, says PM Narendra Modi

Appealing to the people of naxal-hit Jharkhand to shun violence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked them to take a plough in hand instead of guns to bring harvest and development to the state.

"Taking plough on the shoulder, not gun, brings 'hariyali' (harvest)," he said while addressing an election rally in Jharkhand ahead of the fifth and final phase of polling on December 20 for the last 16 of the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly.

Pressing the trigger of a pistol takes a life but wielding a pen in your hand and pressing the button of an EVM machine changes the future, the Prime Minister said.

Calling upon the voters to make Jharkhand free of violence, Modi said, "Gaon, gaon mein vikas ho" (let development usher in all villages).

The Prime Minister's call for non-violence comes at a time when 20 of the 24 districts in Jharkhand are hit by naxal violence.