Prime Minister Modi (TNN file photo by E Narasimha Murthy)

BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at the opposition for opposing technology in the form of Aadhaar card and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and said that the BJP wants to promote a modern India by giving importance to skill development and innovation.

Addressing BJP Yuva Morcha (Youth Wing) workers via the ' Narendra Modi App ,' the prime minister also lauded efforts of party workers in maintaining the public mood in favour of the party, despite rumours of a hung assembly in the May 12 elections in Karnataka .

"At 45 degrees temperature, I have seen the enthusiasm of people...it is rare to witness such level of enthusiasm...I can see that in Karnataka, people themselves are fighting theworst record of
Naxalite violence and some of the worst poverty
rates in India. In 2010 one multidimensional anal-
ysis of poverty, drawn up with support from the
United Nations Development Programme, said
that eight Indian states, including Jharkhand and
Chhattisgarh, accounted for more poor people
than the 26 poorest African nations combined.
Rather than reduce the imbalance between
rich and poor, mineral wealth has exacerbated
the divide, adding pollution, violence, and dis-
placement to the daily struggle of those whose
livelihood is locked up in the land. The Karan-
pura Valley of northern Jharkhand epitomizes
the situation. Once famous for its tigers and a
major migration route of elephants, the area
today is home to open coal pits, where massive
quantities of the carbon rock are mined. Origi-
nally mapped in the 1800s, coalfields there were
acquired by Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), a
local subsidiary of state-owned