Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi declared yesterday that his hat-trick of an election win held a national message and that he was serving &ldquo;Mother India&rdquo; besides his own state.u00a0Addressing thousands of BJP supporters in his Maninagar constituency, the 62-year-old politician repeatedly appealed to the Gujarati pride of the voters but curiously chose to speak in Hindi. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2012/dec/Narendra-Modi_1.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 334px;" /> Mama&rsquo;s boy: After leading the BJP to a third-time win in assembly elections, Narendra Modi drove tou00a0meet his aged mother Hiraba yesterday. Pic/AFP The BJP&rsquo;s victory, he said, was &ldquo;a victory for every Indian, whether they are in Assam or Kerala or Jammu and Kashmir&rdquo;.u00a0Modi pointedly pretended not to hear the chorus in the gathering for his elevation as India&rsquo;s prime minister as the crowds chanted &ldquo;PM, PM, PM, PM, PM...&rdquo; towards the end of his speech. Modi ridiculed political pundits who he said had failed to understand the pulse of the Gujarat electorate. &ldquo;Development won today,&rdquo; he thundered, repeatedly drawing cheers and wild clapping. &ldquo;There was a thinking in our politics that good economics is bad politics. It was as if good governance did not suit our politics.&rdquo; He quickly added that the people of the country too needed good governance and economic development of the kind seen in Gujarat. &ldquo;I seek your forgiveness if there have been drawbacks, mistakes (in my administration),&rdquo; said Modi, who came to power in Gujarat in late 2001 and whose early reign was marked by the 2002 communal riots. &ldquo;Give me your blessings so that we don&rsquo;t make any mistake (again),&rdquo; he said adding, &ldquo;Even by mistake, we should not do any wrong to anyone.&rdquo; Keshubhai&rsquo;s, no enemy After leading the BJP to a third-time win in the assembly elections, Modi drove to his meet his aged mother and, surprisingly, his predecessor and political foe Keshubhai Patel &mdash; whose feet he touched in reverence. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t consider anyone my enemy in democracy,&rdquo; he said. Besides defeating the Congress, Modi&rsquo;s sweeping win also punctured former BJP Chief Minister Patel&rsquo;s Gujarat Parivartan Party which was left gasping with just two seats. Party comes first &ldquo;Victory is victory... Even if we had won 93 seats, we would have taken our oath (of office)... But they are not interested in this simple arithmetic,&rdquo; he said. In an apparent response to media projections that Modi had grown taller than the BJP, he said, &ldquo;The party is our mother. It is under her guidance that we grow. Whatever we are, it is because of the party. If there is no party, we are nowhere.&rdquo; Modi said even as he was awaited final election results. &ldquo;I was stunned. They are not able to digest the Gujarat victory even now. I wonder if they will be able to sleep tonight!&rdquo; he said about senior political pundits. The BJP veteran said the people of Gujarat had risen above caste and other divides to give him another five-year mandate. &ldquo;I salute the voters of Gujarat for rejecting all greed and lies.&rdquo;u00a0

Addressing thousands of BJP supporters, the chief minister repeatedly appealed to the Gujarati pride of voters but curiously chose to speak in Hindi; pretended not to hear the chorus of 'PM, PM' from the crowd 

Modi raises national pitch in victory speech

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / News / India News / Article / Modi raises national pitch in victory speech

Modi raises national pitch in victory speech

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast