politician, writer, social worker, bibliographer
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That is why I say the nation needs a leader. Dr. Manmohan Singh has not even visited all the states in the five years of his prime ministership, while Advaniji is a leader who has, at some point in time, spent a night in our 400 districts.
He knows the entire land, there is not a stain on him, he is blemishless, has vast administrative experience having served in various [c]abinets, and fulfilled his responsibilities to everyone's satisfaction, whether it was as the chief executive of the Delhi metropolitan council or as information and broadcasting minister or deputy prime minister. Advaniji rose from the ranks to become a mass leader, there's a world of difference between the two.
There is a saying 'justice delayed is justice denied'. Everyone knows of it, you do too. I have done three major things in Gujarat. I have increased court hours by 30 minutes every day; reduced court vacations by seven days; started evening courts with the same infrastructure.
We had 45 lakh cases pending from 2003–2004, to which 65 lakh new cases were added, making it more than one crore pending cases. After our initiatives, there are only 20 lakh pending court cases. Now my target is that by 2010, when Gujarat will complete 50 years, we will make it no-pendency. Cases will be disposed of in the very year they are filed.
You tell me, since Independence, in the field of justice delivery, has so much work been accomplished anywhere? But, for news traders, these things perhaps are not saleable. Now you tell me if these things are pro-poor or not.
God is one. We don't say that [the] Hindus' god is separate, Muslim god is separate, Christian god is separate. This is not our philosophy. We believe [the saying] vasudhaiva kutumbakam: "whole world is family". This is in our DNA. This is in our genetic system. I belong to a culture which culture says "the whole world is one family". How can we hate any community? Even any person? It's impossible!
The law of nature is that Truth alone triumphs—Satyameva Jayate. Our judiciary having spoken, I felt it important to share my inner thoughts and feelings with the nation at large.
Within a mere five months however, the mindless violence of 2002 had dealt us another unexpected blow. Innocents were killed. Families rendered helpless. Property built through years of toil destroyed. Still struggling to get back on its feet from the natural devastation, this was a crippling blow to an already shattered and hurting Gujarat.
On one side was the pain of the victims of the earthquake, and on the other the pain of the victims of the riots. In decisively confronting this great turmoil, I had to single-mindedly focus all the strength given to me by the almighty, on the task of peace, justice and rehabilitation; burying the pain and agony I was personally wracked with.
However, as if all the suffering was not enough, I was also accused of the death and misery of my own loved ones, my Gujarati brothers and sisters. Can you imagine the inner turmoil and shock of being blamed for the very events that have shattered you!
The Gujarat Government had responded to the violence more swiftly and decisively than ever done before in any previous riots in the country. Yesterday’s judgement culminated a process of unprecedented scrutiny closely monitored by the highest court of the land, the Honourable Supreme Court of India. Gujarat’s 12 years of trial by the fire have finally drawn to an end. I feel liberated and at peace.
Those who derive satisfaction by perpetuating pain in others will probably not stop their tirade against me. I do not expect them to. But, I pray in all humility, that they at least now stop irresponsibly maligning the 6 crore people of Gujarat.
I am constantly trying to find solutions to the problems of the nation. However, our opponents are engrossed in finding a solution to Modi. This mentality can never benefit the nation[.]
I don't do anything in a vindictive manner. Look at my 14-year track record in Gujarat. People don't vote me to power to take revenge.
I was not silent, I answered every top journalist in the country from 2002–2007, but noticed there was no exercise to understand truth[.]
If the media would not have worked to malign Modi, who would know Modi today?
I phoned Barkha and said, "Are you providing the address of this 'unprotected' bazaar to the rioting mobs? Are you inviting them to come and create trouble there by announcing that there is no police here so you can run amok safely?"
On that day I had put a ban on TV channels because they were actually provoking trouble. But it was only for one day.
I had started the campaign from 15th September. So now it’s 6–7 months since I started the campaign. I am a laborer and my childhood was very tough and physically I am used to all this. I also do my [y]oga and [p]ranayam. But the important point is that I believe you never get tired by doing work. You get tired when you don’t work. When you clean your house, you don’t get tired, it gives you satisfaction.
People’s blessings give you the power to work tirelessly. The only thing required is commitment. The love and affection that I have received from people in last 6 months keeps me running.
We have always focused on degrees only. Now is the time to focus on skill development that will bring employment to our youth. If we have to compete with China then we have to focus on three things—skill, scale and speed. We need better skill, greater scale and faster speed.
Until I don’t lose, until I am not defeated such allegations will continue. People who have been trying to defeat me for the past 12 years have been using all their strength. They couldn't give me even a scratch. This is their ego problem.
I never proposed my candidature for anything or for any post since I have been born. Decision [regarding] me is taken by BJP. I have never asked for my position, never snatched or done any kind of scheming. Whenever I have been bestowed a work I do it with full dedication, hard work and have sacrificed my life for it.
What is our aim, aim of the people is to eradicate this current government. That happens then the aim is fulfilled or else there is no win.
If due to environment businesses flop then we don’t look at religion involved in it right? We worry about environment; similarly we have to look at the rural economy. So country’s problem is not Modi but a "stagnated perverted mindset". They want to take every issue to that one [communalised] corner.
See, you asked the wrong question. What is good or bad is not my issue. If you pick up things from every nook and cranny and demand answers from me, then aise kaam kaise chalega [how will we manage]. Whatever my party’s official stand is, I reflect only that.
Swami Apasthanand is still there, he is very old now, but I had gone to see him and stayed with him for quite some time. But it is a different world, why get into it here.
The country does not function with sharpness, it functions according to the constitution, and it will continue to function according to constitutional integrity. Sharpness is for elections only, not for running the country.
Usually I get up at 5, it’s a habit I have had since I was in the RSS. I don’t need much sleep, three hours is enough for me. My friends and my doctors complain that it is too less, but it is sufficient for me. You can see, I have worked all day but even now I am sitting here easily talking to you.
From the time, I have been in politics, your love has kept me going. All Guj[a]ratis have all right on me, but you have now shared that right with the people of India." "It's the first poll in my political life when I didn't have political sabha in Ahmedabad.
I will never let down the faith you have shown in the BJP, the words of our workers and me. The rivals were busy mudslinging but the people of India have said that the answer to their problems is vaikaas [development].
Those who criticised me didn't know Modi is such a magician who also made them speak on important agendas. But all these discussions also told the country that only development can save the country. Even if they spoke about Gujarat negatively, they still spoke about development. There is only one medicine to all problems—development.
They can call me 'Neech'- Yes, I am from the poor section of society and will spend every moment of my life to work for the poor, Dalits, Tribals and OBC communities. They can keep their language, we will do our work.
Our vision and commitment is towards the country's progress, its place in the world and the happiness of its people.
I don't carry the burden of the past or the madness of the future. I live in the present.
We want an Afghanistan that is shaped by the dreams of the great Afghan people, not by irrational fears and overreaching ambitions of others.
Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion.
Our constitution is a ray of hope: H for harmony, O for Opportunity, P for people's participation and E for equality.
All religions and all communities have the same rights, and it is my responsibility to ensure their complete and total protection. My government will not tolerate or accept any discrimination based on caste, creed and religion.
E-governance is easy governance, effective governance, and also economic governance. E-governance paves the way for good governance.
My government is working for the common man. Our priority is the poor of the country. We want good governance through a dynamic and seamless government.
Our constitution is a ray of hope: H for harmony, O for Opportunity, P for people's participation and E for equality.
I was born in a very poor family. I used to sell tea in a railway coach as a child. My mother used to wash utensils and do lowly household work in the houses of others to earn a livelihood. I have seen poverty very closely. I have lived in poverty. As a child, my entire childhood was steeped in poverty.
I did not become the Chief Minister of [Gujarat] on 7th October 2001. I have always been a 'C.M.', I am a C.M. today and will remain a C.M. tomorrow because by 'C.M.' I mean common man or Aam Aadmi.
I've not come to defeat or to put down anyone... I've come to win the hearts of the people of .
I am not the ruler of Gujarat, I'm a servant of Gujarat. The environment in which I grew up, sewa is treated as a dharma, not power.
Even after Independence, we have had to face the poison of casteism and communalism. How long these evils will continue? Whom does it benefit?
Please ask Congressmen whether their candidates are in favour of running illegal butcher houses? Do they want to protect the hapless animals or the butchers?
I have allowed the media to behave as it wants. [...] I am not worried. The truth will certainly be known.
As far as the BJP is concerned, our belief has been the same for years. Justice to all, appeasement of none. We cannot support divisive politics. We strongly believe in President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam when he says we need 'unity of minds'. People who played the politics of appeasement have ruined the country, not us. Blame them.
I have always criticised violence in my speeches but the way the trouble in just two per cent of the area is blown up and used against us should be countered. Arundhati Roy paints Gujaratis as rapists and then goes scot-free by apologising. Isn't it an insult to Gujarat?
In Gujarat, the poison of casteism was injected in the name of the KHAM [Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adivasis[,] and Muslims] theory. Gujaratis rejected it and turned towards the unity of society. Casteist forces have been rejected in Gujarat, the people's mood is anti-casteist.
For any humanist such an incident would cause indescribable grief. But at the same time creating disturbances (ashanti)[,] indiscipline[,] and expressing outrage (akrosh) is not the solution.
Won’t you help the [g]overnment in saving Gujarat? Won’t you help us in maintaining peace and harmony? The Government of Gujarat appeals to you for help, appeals to you for shanti (peace) and sanyam (restraint [or] self-discipline).
Let us serve Gujarat by maintaining shanti and sanyam. Let us strengthen the arms of law.
I understand your anger and outrage, I understand your pain. And yet in the self-interest of Gujarat, and to ensure that we don’t jeopardize the future of Gujarat, that Gujarat doesn’t get a blot on its face [or] carry a stigma connected with these times all the 5 crore Gujaratis need to keep calm and exercise self-restraint.
It is my request to you, tit for tat is not a solution. Ver ver thi shamtu nathi[.] [Hatred is never won over by hatred.]
Jai jaigarvi Gujarat mantra jeevant karne ke liye hame shanti ka marg hi chahiye. [In order to give life to the mantra of Jai Garvi Gujarat, we need to follow the path of peace.]
I want to assure the people that Gujarat shall not tolerate any such accident. The s will get full punishment for their sins. Not only this, we will set an example, that nobody not even in his dream, thinks of committing a heinous crime like this.
Hindus were tolerant, he said, and would remain so. But tolerance didn't mean they wouldn't defend themselves. Looking at the terrorism that had been encouraged to spread in the last few years, Hindus would have to be aware of their need for self-defence. Else the coming days would be dangerous for them.
Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion.
Shastriji had digested the message of the Gita. Some of us have memorised it in full and spout couplets from it at will. But I learnt of what it meant for someone to have actually digested it from Shastriji.
I am busy with my work. I am committed to Gujarat and I am dedicated to Gujarat. I never talk about my image, never spent a single minute for my image and confusions may be there[.]
The friendship should continue. You came here. I am happy and thankful to you. These are your ideas, you go on expressing these. I can't do this interview. Three–four questions I have already enjoyed. No more please[.]
Suswagatham [Welcome.]
He said that, uh, there is an allegation that you have won elections on a communal card. I said, there are so many media persons here, they are not noting, but now they've started. You see, this is the tragedy of the country. Because when I was talking about development, they were not ready to note even! Now do you understand why I love Cho?
I gave a reply: that my election speeches are available with the election commission. My statements are available in the newspapers. If you will find out a single statement that you can brand as communal, I will declare myself defeated. No one dared to come forward.
What do you mean by communal? If I speak against the terrorism, is it communal?
In this type of the [...] every five years, the secularism is changing the meaning. So now I am thinking that I must come with a new meaning of the secularism.
For me, development gives strongest foundation to the secularism.
Nowadays, there is a new trend that has started. Up to [assembly election] results, they were targeting Modi. Now it is very difficult for them to target Modi. So now you must have read so many articles, so many discussions on the TV: "there's something wrong with the people of Gujarat". This has the [sic] started!
You are lucky, that Modi is not here [in Chennai]. Otherwise they will blame you also. Otherwise they will blame the people of Tamil Nadu are not good, that they have, they are going to listen [to] Mr. Modi!
The reality is different. They are so matured as far as democracy is concerned, they rejected the color TV [promised by Congress]. They rejected the color TV, and they accepted a person who says that I'll serve the notice [to tax evaders]. And this is the strength of the democracy.
And I have advice to the each and every political party. When you are in the office, don't target for the next election. Just try to win over their heart. Election may be the byproduct. In last five years I never tried for the election results. Never. I was never thinking about the elections. I was never talking about the elections. But of course, I was very, very conscious [that] I want to win the heart of the people. And this election was simply a byproduct.
We have a Gujarat State Wide Area Network. The optical fibre network. We are [the] largest in Asia, number one. We are number one in Asia. And we are second largest in the world. Can you image how we are using the technology?
And that's why in my Gujarat, my motto is: minimum government, maximum governance.
It's very simple, Dr[.] Manmohan Singhji in reality is not a leader, and he has himself said that he is not a leader. The nation cannot be ruled by an academician, it can be run only by a leader. What was Indiraji [Indira Gandhi]'s education was never an issue, but she was a leader. (P. V.) Narasimha Rao was a leader. Only those who know the pulse of the nation can run it.