IANS/Kolkata
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen yesterday reiterated that he did not consider Narendra Modi as a good prime ministerial candidate, and said he preferred someone who was "more secular" and not considered a threat by minority communities.
Sen cast his vote yesterday at Bolpur in West Bengal's Birbhum district, for the first time since the 2001 assembly election.
"My reaction on Modi is well known, I don't think he is a good prime ministerial candidate. Obviously he is popular among some sections, particularly in the business community. But that does not mean he is my favourite candidate, indeed he is not," Sen told reporters after exercising his franchise at a booth on Vishwa Bharati University campus.
"So, I will like someone who is more secular and the minority communities like the Muslims or the Christians do not feel threatened by him. So that has to be one characteristic of a leader," said Sen, who has strongly opposed Modi and questioned his secular credentials.
The Congress meanwhile said World Bank data about India replacing Japan as the third largest economy was "a solid reply" to the BJP and Modi's campaign of "misinformation".
Modi has been slamming the United Progressive Alliance government in his election speeches, saying there was "despair" due to its policies and India had become a country of under achievers.
But Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed hit back at Modi and told a press conference that a World Bank report released on Tuesday said India has emerged as the world's third largest economy replacing Japan.
According to the report released in Washington, the size of the Indian economy in terms of purchasing power parity grew to $5.75tn in 2011 surpassing Japan which had $4.37tn economy.
"In the latest report, India has replaced Japan. There has been a campaign of misinformation by Narendra Modi. The report is a cracking answer to this," Ahmed said.
He said the India emerged as the world's third-largest economy in 2011 from being the 10th largest in 2005.
In Lucknow, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said there was no Modi wave in the country, and accused the media of creating hype in favour of the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
Mayawati said she had been travelling to many parts of Uttar Pradesh but found "very little" support for Modi.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister slammed yoga guru Baba Ramdev for his remarks on Dalit women and questioned the silence of BJP leaders including Modi on the issue.
"The BJP is making serious efforts to dent the Dalit vote bank, their leaders are visiting Dalit homes and Modi misses no chance to talk about them.
"But there has been no statement slamming the yoga guru," the she said.
