Narendra Modi gets a rousing reception in Mumbai

After a rousing rally in New Delhi Mumbai was the next stop for Narendra Modi However his maiden visit as the BJP prime ministerial candidate to the city wasnrsquot a political rally He had come to Mumbai to inaugurate the Diamond Hall at Bharat Diamond Bourse in BandraKurla Complex Rousing welcome Crowds thronged the airport to catch a glimpse of Narendra Modi He was welcomed with chants of lsquoModi Modi Modirsquo before he made his way to BKC for a speech Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde were also present at the function PicsShadab Khan However for those present there the inauguration could have easily been mistaken as a rally as Modi didnrsquot let go of an opportunity to slam the Congress and exhort voters His great oratory skills were displayed during his speech during which he covered all topics under the sun from praising diamond traders to slamming the UPA and womenrsquos safety Whatrsquos my value Modi was weighed against 95 kg of silver at the gathering Modi said the silver would be contributed towards the construction of the Sardar Patel statue The statue will be double the size of the Statue of Liberty and will be called the Statue of Unity 39Diamonds shine39 Modi began his speech by praising the traders He said ldquoI thought diamond sellers had lost their shine But today I realised the sellers are as strong as the diamond But the diamond has been facing problems for the last nine years The problem is here to stay only for eight months and exactly in the ninth month this country will destroy all problems and will leadrdquo Faith lost Modi also said that the common man had lost faith in the UPA ldquoThe countryrsquos situation is such that no one trusts anyone If a family loses trust then that family that society that country cannot stand againrdquo Womenrsquos safety And at a time when womenrsquos safety is of utmost priority Modi also used the issue to slam the government Addressing the failure of the UPA he added ldquoWhen a girl leaves her house the mother calls her repeatedly to check whether she has reached safely Because therersquos no proper governance The government in Delhi is sitting unaware of the events It doesnrsquot even know why it is placed thererdquo lsquoGoogle mersquo ldquoGo to Google guru and take a printout of all the things said against me This auditorium will also fall short of space But despite this the people have always supported merdquo Dig at Advani Modi said ldquoIndian politics still has people who are living in the 80s and 90s and think the youth still fight over caste and religion No the youth needs development and nothing elserdquo These words raised eyebrows as they wondered if Modi was taking at jab at L K Advani Wherersquos the vision According to Modi India lacks vision ldquoWhat do we discuss after budget relief in income tax or the status of the Sensex We need a vision for the countryrdquo Cong controls CBI Modi also took out time to slam the CBI saying that the Congress controlled it ldquoTonight they will watch video of this event Who shook hands with me who garlanded me they will be on Income Tax departmentrsquos radar Does a government function with such vendetta But Modi is made of different stuff I am made of the soil from which Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi were maderdquo Brand India After the rousing speech at BKC Modi was also the keynote speaker at a dinner for top ad executives from India and abroad ldquoThe challenge in projecting Brand India to the world is that we donrsquot have confidence in our productrdquo he said ldquoWe should recognise our strengths to be able to market ourselvesrdquo he added saying ldquoFor instance Kalidas is compared with Shakespeare but we should be saying Shakespeare is like Kalidas we need to promote our workrdquo He also thinks that India lost a huge opportunity when it comes to using the film industry to showcase India on the global map ldquoHad I been in power I would have used the film industryrsquos 100 years as an opportunity for branding India but we lost out on itrdquo he said u00a0