Zee Media Bureau/ Neha Attre

New Delhi: BJP prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi slammed the UPA government over various issues including slow growth rate, and said that people have lost faith in the present government, while addressing his NRI supporters via video conference on Sunday.

Modi said that people are looking at BJP to bring about a positive change in the nation and expressed hope that the 2014 General Elections will be a repeat of 1977.

"Like 1977, 2014 will be the voice of the people," he said.

After being appointed as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, the Gujarat Chief Minister was addressing the NRI supporters for the first time.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said that scholars are good for winning debate but cannot bring changes.

He further said that in the upcoming 2014 General Assembly Elections, people will vote on the basis of the developmental work done by a party.

He asked the UPA government to present a performance report of the nine-year rule from which it is “running away”.

Praising the six-year tenure of NDA under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and party’s veteran leader LK Advani, Modi said, “Under Vajpayee government it looked like that the 21st century would be the century of India. But with his departure, the downfall started”

He said that the growth rate was 8.4 per cent but it came down to 4.8 per cent during the UPA’s rule.

“However, once Vajpayee’s tenure as PM came to an end, we regressed and are moving backwards,” he said.

He further appealed to the people and asked them to think about progress and development that will affect the common man ahead of the elections.

Modi also praised Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shiv Raj Chauhan and said that BJP governments are remembered in Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.

He urged the people who are Indian passport holders to get themselves registered as voters.