New Delhi: Rajeev Chandrashekhar, an independent member of Rajya Sabha, today came out in support of Narendra Modi for Prime Ministership, contending the country needs the “decisive leader with abilities” to deal with the challenges it faces.

Even while ruling out joining BJP, the two-time MP from Bangalore feels the 2002 Gujarat riots are a thing of the past and Modi has ensured “peace and harmony” in Gujarat for the last 12 years along with development.

He said critics of the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate are “unnecessarily creating a scare” about him and claimed Modi will work for all sections of society if he is aspiring to be the leader at the national level.

“For almost 60 years, and more recently, for the last 10 years, we have given Congress opportunities to govern. We deserve a new alternative and so let’s give Narendra Modi an opportunity to govern for the next five years and do so by voting for all his candidates,” the MP said in his appeal to the electorate.

Chandrashekhar, who has been pro-actively pursuing the cause of ex-servicemen, claimed Modi was the only deserving candidate to be the PM among the options available.

“In these elections, the challenges are significantly deep morally, governance-wise and security-wise. So, we need a decisive leader with abilities. Modi is the best person given the challenges facing the country and the candidates available,” he said.

He attacked Rahul Gandhi for talking about divisiveness and raking up the issue of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, saying these issues do not have relevance in the current discourse.