Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at the opposition alliance in Chennai saying the INDIA bloc has a 'new formula' to abuse him as he doesn't have a family.
"INDIA bloc has a new formula to abuse me; that I don't have a family," PM Modi said while addressing people in Chennai.
However, he added that the people across the country said in one voice that they belong to Modi's family.
"Across the country, people are saying in one voice "I am Modi's family," he further said. PM Modi was felicitated by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai and other party leaders during his visit to Chennai.
The prime minister's remark comes a day after RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav Yadav took a jibe at him for having no family and claimed that he was not a Hindu.
During the rally, Yadav can be seen addressing a gathering where he said, "What can we do if Narendra Modi does not have a family of his own? He keeps bragging about the Ram temple. He is not even a true Hindu. In Hindu tradition, a son must shave his head and beard upon the demise of his parents. Modi did not do so when his mother died."
Prime Minister Modi said he has a long-standing love for Tamil Nadu and added that the people of Chennai will play a very very important role in mission to build a developed India.
"I have a long-standing love for Tamil Nadu. However, in the past few years, whenever I visit Tamil Nadu, some people start getting stomach ache. They have a problem with the increasing mandate of BJP here," PM Modi said.
"In our mission to build a developed India, the people of Chennai will play a very very important role," he added.
Modi said the country is his family and the 140 crore people, the youth, farmers and poor are all his family. "To make their future bright, I am working day and night. Sisters, daughters, they are my family. I am working to give them more and more opportunities."
Furthermore, he said: Those who don't have anyone, they belong to Modi and Modi belongs to them. Mera Bharat Mera Parivaar (My Bharat My family).
He also hit out at the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu and said that at the time of crisis, its leaders were busy in media management.
"Amidst Centre's efforts, the DMK government has turned away from the needs of Chennai people and your aspirations. Such a big cyclone came some time ago, people of Chennai faced such difficulties, but the DMK government did the job of increasing hardships of people instead of helping them," Modi said.
"Along with 'Viksit Bharat', Modi has taken a resolution of 'Viksit Tamil Nadu'. Soon we have to make India the third largest economy... The central government is working to develop cities like Chennai," he added.