Modi says big win brings big responsibility

Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi on Sunday visited his old BJP office at JP Chowk, Khanpur area of old Ahmedabad, a stone’s throw away from Sabarmati river.

It was here that Modi is said to have started his political career in the 1980s and helped the party in winning its first municipal corporation election in 1987. He also helped organise LK Advani’s Rath Yatra in the early 1990s.

This was the first visit of Modi and party president Amit Shah after a thumping majority in the Lok Sabha polls. The duo landed at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport and garlanded the statue of Patel installed at the entrance of the airport.

Modi told a gathering of party workers at JP Chowk that when he was serving as Gujarat chief minister, journalists asked him during elections how many seats he was winning. He did not answer them but in this election, he told publicly that BJP will get 300 seats.

He said that in his first five years as PM, he laid a foundation on which India would regain its rightful position in the world order in next five years.

It will be about the participation of people (Jan Bhagidari) and raising awareness ‘Jan Chetna’ about governance, he added.

Modi said that the victory gave power and a big responsibility, therefore it was important to remain humble and grounded.

Earlier, BJP chief Amit Shah said that the first time when Modi came to Khanpur office, there were only two BJP seats in Lok Sabha.

“There was deep depression but Narendrabhai scripted the victory in Ahmedabad municipal corporation and the journey of BJP’s glory started,” Amit Shah said.

Shah added that it was “Narendrabhai who made Gujarat BJP’s bastion.” Gujarat used to be notorious for riots, curfews and Rath Yatra (Lord Jagannath’s) used to be disrupted. But Modi changed everything and made Gujarat a model in the country.

Both the leaders also expressed solidarity with the families of 22 students who lost their lives in the fire incident in Surat.