Venkaiah Naidu lauds Narendra Modi for fostering development

Lauding Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his three-day fast for promoting communal harmony, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M Venkaiah Naidu has said the latter's move bears testimony to his genuine concern for the state that is forging ahead on a development path.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, Naidu said: "He (Modi) is one of the most popular politicians in the country; he has given a stable government to the state of Gujarat. Gujarat is on the developmental path. For the last ten years there is no tension, only attention towards development."

"There is perfect communal harmony, there are no social tension, investments are coming in a big way, power supply is 24 hours for the entire state and there is a people friendly, investment friendly development in the state, law and order is under control, is superb. That is why people are looking at Gujarat," he added.

He also said that the ruling Congress Party is on a decline in Gujarat and is needlessly trying to malign Modi's image.

"The Congress Party is almost on a decline in the state of Gujarat, all the efforts to defame Narendra Modi have boomeranged earlier, this is also going to boomerang," added Naidu.

Modi began a harmony fast on Saturday to soften his image as a hardliner blamed for religious riots that claimed thousands of lives.

 The fast is seen as a bid by Modi and his party, the BJP, to launch him as a national leader as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government loses popularity over inflation and corruption scams.