Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Congress and other political parties had failed to play their role of the Opposition and had now come together only because elections are approaching, ANI reported.

Speaking to Bharatiya Janata Party workers in five constituencies through his mobile application, Modi said the Opposition was just busy finding new ways to target the Centre – in speeches and through tweets.

Modi spoke to party workers in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, Bihar’s Nawada, Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh, Rajasthan’s Jaipur Rural and the Arunachal Pradesh West Lok Sabha constituencies.

“If Congress and its associates had worked together for last four years and brought issues before public, people would have at least believed them,” Modi said. “But they were least bothered in the last four years. Now that elections are approaching, they have come together.”

He expressed sympathy for “talented Congress workers” on the ground as “their struggle is benefiting only one family”. “The Opposition’s lies will not stand against our truth and facts,” the prime minister said. “There will be no doubt in voters’ minds, they will only see the lotus [BJP’s election symbol] when they vote.”

Modi said his government was focusing on the principle of “EPI – Every Person is Important” instead of focusing on “VIPs – Very Important Persons”.