Modi votes, clicks selfie, criticises Congress

Ahmedabad, April 30 (IANS) BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Wednesday cast his vote, clicked a selfie and attacked the Congress, saying nothing can now save the "mother-son" government.

Taking a dig at Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi, Modi said this elections will ensure that the Congress will be ousted from power and that a new and strong government will come to power.

"After analysing the election process and the voter's mind until now, I can say that this time nothing can save the 'mother-son' government...a strong government will come to power," he said after casting his vote at the Ranip polling station in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

The Gujarat chief minister was seen taking a selfie of his inked finger after casting his ballot and flashed the Bharatiya Janata Party's symbol - the lotus.

"Balloting in such high numbers reflect that this elections will give the country new strength," he said.

"This is an election of hope. It will bring new trust and new strength to the nation. May 16th, there will be no confusions and message will be clear. It will be a strong government led by the BJP," Modi remarked.

Interacting with the media, the BJP star apologised to the people of Gujarat for not being able to devote a lot of time to them, like in the past.

"This time I could hardly give 18 hours in the last two days," he said amid loud cheers from the crowd.

"But I thank the voters for the way they have taken the election process forward even in my absence," he added.

He also called himself "fortunate" to be a voter in Gandhinagar from where BJP patriarch L.K. Advani is the party candidate as he cast his vote around 9.10 a.m.

Ahead of casting his vote, Modi tweeted: "Urging all those voting in 89 Lok Sabha seats across India to vote in record numbers today! Hope my young friends show the way in doing so."

"I request all those voting in 119 Assembly seats in Telangana region & in by-polls in Bihar, Gujarat, UP & WB to turnout in large numbers," he tweeted.

The Gujarat chief minister is contesting from Vadodara Lok Sabha seat as well as Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.