Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Reuters

At the Parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a firm stand against communalism and said that his party was entirely devoted to the people of India and their welfare.

"My government's only religion is 'India first'. My government's only religious book is the 'Indian Constitution'. Our only devotion is 'Bharat Bhakti' and our only prayer is 'welfare of all'," PTI quoted Modi as saying in the Lok Sabha.

This is being seen as a rebuke to BJP and RSS leaders who have earlier made outrageous comments in the name of religion. He said such outrageous remarks have only brought harm to the country and it's his responsibility as the PM to not allow this to repeat.

"Nobody has the right to discriminate on the basis of religion... No one has the right to take law into his hands," Modi said. "Communalism for political reasons has destroyed the country. Hearts have been broken," he added.

Condemning communalism, Modi said that India will prosper only when all the religions in the country will proper and that according to him is only possible if everyone follows the Constitution and law. "No one can take law in their hands and discriminate on the grounds of religion," ANI quoted him as saying.

"This is a nation full of diversity. We are for unity in diversity, not disunity. All religions should flourish. It is the uniqueness of India because of its Constitution," he said in his speech and added that "we want to take the nation forward within the framework of the Constitution".