Ahmedabad:
Amidst critical review of his government’s 100-day performance and reverses in by-polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at his detractors saying they will take time to understand his work and his style of functioning.
“Certain things had not been seen in the past. It would be a new and unique thing for some people. They will take bit of time to understand this new thing. They could not understand this during the last 12 years in Gujarat,” Modi said at a felicitation organised by BJP workers here.
“Still they cannot understand it. But I have adopted the mantra ‘Sarvajan Hitay Sarvajan Sukhay’ (for welfare of all, for happiness of all). And I am sure this will work.”
On the criticism that his government lacks vision, Modi said, “Many times there is debate on the vision....Big vision... grand vision... etc. Whatever it is... I am a very small man... and I live for the small people of this country.
“I can think small and by thinking small things, I can make people big from these small people. And when all these small people become big, then India will develop beyond limits,” Modi said.
“We have introduced Jan Dhan Yojana. Businessmen of this country have to stand humbly in front of bank managers to get loans. But now a bank manager has to go to the house of poor people and open accounts for them. This is called vision. Banking system existed earlier also but nobody thought of using it to save the poor from money-lenders,” Modi said.
“I thought of it. To understand a change, you have to change yourself.
“Natural calamities come and nobody can stop them. But you have to show dedication to sacrifice yourself during such natural calamities. You have to sacrifice yourself for the victims. I have visited Kashmir more often during this short period than our previous Prime Minister had visited in his entire tenure,” he said.
While speaking about his government’s initiative to improve the ties with neighbouring countries, Modi criticised previous Prime Ministers for not visiting Nepal for 17 years.
“It does not take more than one hour and fifteen minutes to reach Nepal by flight. But our previous Prime Ministers had not visited Nepal for 17 years. What they could not do in 17 years, I did in one hour and fifteen minutes,” Modi said, adding, “they could not see Nepal but I have seen it”.
