Congress indoor player, sitting in ivory towers: Modi

Charges Congress with using the country's youth as only voters

Lashing out at the UPA government for sitting in "ivory towers", BJP's Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi today said that Congress was an indoor player while BJP was an outdoor player having a connect with the people.

He also charged Congress with using the country's youth as only voters while maintaining that his party considered younger people as power.

"For Congress, the youth are just voters but for us they are power. Our priority is to empower the youth to make India strong. This is our dream," he told a rally here.

Modi said with more than 65 per cent of the country's population below the age of 35, BJP wanted them to contribute to India's development which will also help in global growth.

"The people in power in Delhi are sitting in ivory towers. They are indoor players but we are outdoor players who have a connect with the people," the Gujarat Chief Minister said.

He also accused the Centre of failure to provide jobs to the youth, saying while the UPA government's budget for skill development was Rs 1000 crore, a small state like Gujarat has allocated Rs 800 crore for it.

Alleging that Congress and UPA government played votebank politics, he said after coming to power in 2004, the Central government had overturned POTA thereby allowing terrorists and Naxals to go "scot-free".

Lauding Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government for setting up the IT Ministry, he recalled that it was under the NDA government that the Moon mission was conceptualised which ultimately laid the groundwork for the Mars probe.

He opened his speech by congratulating Sachin Tendulkar and Prof CNR Rao on being honoured with the Bharat Ratna.