Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday said there was no 'Modi wave' in India, particularly in his state, and described the BJP assertion as a "hoax".

 

 "People in the state and elsewhere in the country uphold the high principles of pluralistic ethos, communal harmony and brotherhood and want young leadership to lead the country to strengthen these principles and take the country to new heights of peace, development and modernization," Abdullah said at an election rally.

 

 The chief minister addressed rallies in support of joint candidates of the National Conference and the Congress at Nowshera, Kalakote and other places in Rajouri district of Jammu region.

 

 "People are emancipated enough to understand the designs of certain politicians aimed at dividing the society on various grounds including region, religion and caste for vote bank politics and vested interests of grabbing power.

 

 "Parties like BJP and PDP are thriving on the politics of 'divide and rule' and want to wedge apart various sections of the society," he said. He appealed to the people to reject the "politics of hate" and nurture mutual brotherhood, amity and togetherness for which he said the National Conference and the Congress have always been torch-bearers.

 

 He said both the parties have made sacrifices to keep the secular, democratic traditions of the country and the state alive.  Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir has received unprecedented help from the United Progressive Alliance led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi.

 

 "Let us all vote for the joint candidates in the parliamentary election and strengthen the hands of Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and give a message to the country that the people of Jammu and Kashmir do not forget their friends," he said.

 

 He said the all-round development, massive economic uplift and peace in the state in the last five years was due to the UPA government.  Construction of bridges, roads, schools, colleges, universities and other developmental schemes besides enactment of legislations to empower people and ensure transparency in administration has been possible only with financial and logical support by the Congress-led union government.

 

 In an indirect reference to senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani and now-expelled Jaswant Singh, Abdullah said the BJP, which has no regard for its own elders and stalwarts, cannot think about the welfare of the common people.