Vadodara (Gujarat) : In his first comments after the BJP won the Lok Sabha election, party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi made it clear Friday that his government will take everyone along.
“The government belongs to all the people of the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamrup,” Modi said days before he will be sworn in as India’s next prime minister.”All the people of this country are ours,” he added.
“It is our responsibility to take everyone along. A government cannot be of just a few people…Our mission will be ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’,” he added.
“Our mantra will be inclusive growth.”
As Modi spoke in Hindi, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous cries of “Modi, Modi”. He was forced to halt at times before continuing with his talk.
In an obvious message directed at the Congress, Modi said that now that the country’s most bitterly fought general election had ended, “there are no enemies in politics”.
Describing himself as people’s “mazdoor number one”, he said: “The country will not get a mazdoor like me in the coming 60 months.”
Referring to the sweeping BJP win, which is poised to give the party a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha, the Gujarat chief minister said: “I am very grateful to the people of India.”
Modi said the Lok Sabha verdict was significant because a non-Congress party had gained parliamentary majority on its own for the first time in independent India.
It will also be the first time that India will be run by a leadership born after the country’s independence, he added.
Modi said he had chosen to first speak in Vadodara after BJP’s victory as the city had elected him to the Lok Sabha with a record margin.
He said Vadodra has given him a victory margin of 5.70 lakh votes, even though he could not campaign much in the city.
“In the history of elections, such margin has not happened in a general election. I am not talking about a by-election,” he said.
He said Gujarat had created a record by giving all 26 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP.
“There were seven by-polls in Gujarat where six seats were with Congress. Today BJP has won in four,” Modi said.