Bhubaneswar, March 14 (IANS): Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said Friday the Congress party does not care for the poor and tribals and always betrays the people.

"The Congress party is in a habit of making false promises. At the time of each election...the Congress comes up with a lie," Modi said while addressing a massive rally at the district town of Sambalpur in western Odisha, about 320 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

The Gujarat chief minister said he had visited the state in 2009 to address an election rally and the Congress had promised at that time that it would control price rise in 100 days.

"Did it fulfill its promise? Did the prices really come down?" he asked the gathering.

He said the Congress takes 60 years to understand the hunger and suffering of the people.

"Did they forget this for so many years?" he asked.

Modi said it was the BJP governments, whether the one in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, or Gujarat which gave the tribal communities their land rights.

Appealing to the people to give a decisive mandate to the BJP, Modi said the country needs good governance and for that a stable government is needed at the centre in Delhi. For that people need to elect more BJP members, he said.

Accusing the central government of not showing concern for the problems of the people in the BJP-ruled states, he said hailstorm damaged crops in Madhya Pradesh and its chief minister had to sit on fast to wake up the centre.

Modi also slammed External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, without naming him, for his comments on the Supreme Court and the Election Commission during an event recently in London.

"We are proud of our democracy. Our Election Commission and Supreme Court work efficiently but our foreign minister criticizes them," he said.

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