Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday for the first time came out strongly against BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying he hoped all secular forces would combine "to face the onslaught of people" like the Gujarat chief minister.
Answering a question on whether Modi's emergence was a threat to the country's secular polity, the prime minister said, without mincing words: "I sincerely hope that all secular forces would combine to face the onslaught of people like Mr. Narendra Modi."
"And I have every reason to believe that that will happen. You wait for some time before the people realise what they are up against," he added, while speaking to reporters on board his speccial aircraft while returning home from New York.