Narendra Modi takes victory laps, taunts Congress on defeat

New DelhiVaranasi A day after he led the BJP to an unprecedented triumph in the parliamentary polls Narendra Modi set to be Indias next prime minister Saturday undertook victory laps in Delhi and Varanasi the second Lok Sabha seat he has won and taunted Congress over its historical lossIndian prime ministerelect Narendra Modi extreme right performs the Ganga Puja a religious ritual with Bharatiya Janata Party BJP President Rajnath Singh C and senior BJP leader Amit Shah 3rd L at the banks of the River Ganges in Varanasi on May 17 2014 AFP PHOTOROBERTO SCHMIDTA sea of supporters waved Bharatiya Janata Party flags blew conches beat drums danced and shouted slogans as soon as the Gujurat chief minister stepped out of the Delhi airport after flying in from his state The celebrations continued all through the long route to the party officeBesides BJP president Rajnath Singh the seven newlyelected party MPs from Delhi were among those who received Modi visiting Delhi a day after the announcement of the Lok Sabha resultsHis tone and expressions much more relaxed than what was witnessed during his over 400 rallies during the poll campaign Modi dedicated the partys thumping victory in the Lok Sabha polls to the generations of loyal party workers as he reached partys national headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road in central DelhiThe first political reference in his speech came only late in the evening in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi when he took a jibe at Congress for its pathetic loss as it was limited to 44 Lok Sabha seatsWe have heard about coalitions to form government but now we have a situation where they need alliance for opposition Modi said in Varanasi after he offered prayers at Kashi Vishwanath Temple referring to the partys unprecedented poor showIn New Delhi the BJP office was converted in a fortress but it could do little to keep the party workers and supporters away who kept gathering outside the premise dancing to the tune of bands playing on the cordoned decorated roadIn a message of peace Modi released a bunch of white balloons here as rose petals were showered in welcomeModi attended a meeting of partys parliamentary board of the party which decided to meet May 20 to formally elect him as its leaderIt is a mere formality there is no need to tell who will be elected Rajnath Singh said after the meeting which was attended by veteran party leader LK Advani Sushma Swaraj Murli Manohar Joshi Arun Jaitley M Venkaiah Naidu and Amit Shah along with othersThe BJP president also said after the meeting they would call a meeting of National Democratic Alliance NDA alliesHe also said that they have not yet finalised a date for the swearingin ceremony for Modi or his cabinetModi then left for Varanasi the second Lok Sabha seat he won along with VadodaraIn the holy city where he defeated Aam Aadmi Partys Arvind Kejriwal and Congress Ajay Rai Modi performed a ritualistic puja at the Vishwanath temple one of the most pious Shiva templesHe then participated in a Ganga arti at the bank of the river holy for HindusI was stopped from speaking to my people in Varanasi In spite of that people voted for me They put a stamp on my silence he said in an indirect reference to the Election Commission which had stopped him from holding a rally in a Beniyabagh a Muslim dominated area on security groundsModi also promised to clean up the holy cityBy 2019 when we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi we should have cleaned up the country Modi said on the banks of the riverBJP became the first nonCongress party since Independence in 1947 to win a comfortable majority on its own in the 545member Lok Sabha