BJP seeking votes in the name of nationalism: Minister

Noida, April 11 (IANS) Union Minister Mahesh Sharma on Thursday clarified that the BJP was seeking votes in the Lok Sabha elections in the name of nationalism and not in the name of the Army.

Sharma was talking to reporters after casting his vote at a polling station in Sector 15A here. 

Asked why had Prime Minister Narendra Modi given up his old plank of development for nationalism in these elections, Sharma replied: "Who says Modiji is seeking votes in the name of army? Not at all. 

"We are seeking votes in the name of nationalism. For us, the nation comes first. For the others, it is the family, the dynasty that comes first."

He said this election was not to elect a Member of Parliament or Minister but to elect a Prime Minister who can secure India's boundaries.

"India has full faith in Prime Minister Modi. He has taken the country to newer heights and changed its image across the world," he said. 

Lashing out at the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Sharma said, "The bua-bhatija (Mayawati-Akhlesh) are contesting on 72 of the total 80 seats. Leaders of parties with not a single MP are dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister. But they don't know that Modiji is contesting against them on all these seats."

Sharma, seeking a second term from Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddha Nagar constituency, faces BSP's Satveer -- a joint candidate of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, Congress' Arvind Kumar Singh and 10 other candidates, including two Independents.