Panaji, March 19 (IANS): The BJP has hit back at a Church-backed organization that slammed its prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for misgovernance.

Bharatiya Janata Party vice president Wilfred Mesquita said Tuesday the Church was free to make its own assessments and comments.

"They have every right to comment and speak their mind. Who has stopped the Church," Mesquita asked while speaking to IANS.

The Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) had Tuesday lashed out at Modi for promoting personality-oriented politics and while blasting the "good governance" claims, hinted that communal and corporate forces had together "infiltrated" India's secular spirit.

In a public pledge issued to voters in Goa, the Church also lashed out at Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar-led government for misgovernance and said that like past governments, it has a tendency towards corruption.

The Church asked Goans to vote for a "secular" India, to which Mesquita responded: "At least the Church has asked Goans to vote for a secular India and not pseudo-secular India."

With Catholics accounting for a little less than a third of the state population, the Church has significant socio-political clout in the coastal state.