Thread by @DDNewslive

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi on politics: I had nothing to do with the political domain itself. My surroundings, my inner world, my philosophy—these were very different. Right from my younger days, my bent was spiritual

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: The tenet of ‘Jan Seva Hi Prabhu Seva’ (Serving people is akin to serving the divine), which was propounded by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda always inspired me. It became a driving force in whatever I did

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: As for politics, I did not even have a remote connection to it. It was much later that due to circumstances, and at the insistence of some friends, that I joined politics. Even there, I was in a position where I was primarily doing organisational work

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Twenty years ago, the circumstances became such that I had to enter a completely unchartered territory of heading an administration. And this happened in 2001, when Gujarat was adversely affected by one of the most devastating earthquakes our nation has seen

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Having closely seen the deep trouble people were in, I had no time or opportunity to even ponder what the new turn in my life meant. I immediately got into relief, rehabilitation and rebuilding Gujarat

@narendramodi PM: My innermost instinct has always been to do something for others. Wherever I am, whatever I am doing, there is a desire to do something or the other for people. Working for others is what has always instilled a feeling of ‘Svantah Sukhaya’ or self-fulfilment in me

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: In the eyes of the world, being prime minister and chief minister may be a very big thing but in my own eyes, these are ways to do something for the people

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Mentally, I keep myself detached from this world of power, glitz and glamour. And due to that, I am able to think like a common citizen and walk on my path of duty just like I would if I were given any other responsibility

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: #Tokyo2020 has been India’s finest so far. Yet, naturally there were several athletes who did not win medals. When I met them, they were lamenting their inability to win medals

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: But each of them only had praise for the efforts of our nation in supporting them in their training, facilities, and other kinds of assistance. At the same time, they were determined and energised to give their best to win more medals

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: In my mind, I thought…see how far we have come. Earlier, our sportspersons used to worry about lack of facilities, support, etcetera. These were things they could not do anything about

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: But now they feel that part is sorted and their whole focus is on things they can control and their thirst for a medal has taken centrestage

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: They had a sense of satisfaction that the county has supported them and the determination to do something extraordinary for the nation and bring home more medals in the times to come. This change is satisfying

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: I don’t get awed by the trajectory of my own life. I get awed by the kind of country we are and our people, who can pick a poor child and make him reach where I have

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: I feel privileged that the people of this country have given me such huge responsibilities and continue to repose their trust in me. This is the strength of our democracy

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: I feel that the 130 crore people of India have the same capabilities that I have. What I have achieved, can be achieved by anyone.
If I can, anyone can!
A nation of 130 crore capable people…the contribution that our country can make to humankind is tremendous!

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: It is important that every youngster get opportunities. And when I speak of opportunities, I do not merely refer to assistance that keeps them dependent but the support that makes them self-reliant to fulfil their aspirations, with dignity

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: If someone had only analysed my work, he would not be under any confusion about me. After I became chief minister, the first thing which I did, about 20 years ago, when I didn’t have any prior experience of administration

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: First public function which I did after becoming CM was Garib Kalyan Mela

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: If someone would have understood all this, then the work done by me today, like building toilets in poor people’s homes or providing free ration to the poor, would have been easier for them to understand

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Secondly, I feel, and this is my conviction, that for my own healthy development, I attach a big importance to criticism. I, with an honest mind, respect critics a lot. But, unfortunately, the number of critics is very few

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Mostly, people only level allegations, the people who play games about perception are more in number. And the reason for this is that, for criticism, one has to do a lot of hard work, research and, in today’s fast-paced world

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Global experience says that government should be there for those for whom nobody is there. Government’s whole focus should be on helping them. Take the example of our aspirational districts programme to ensure that no region should be left behind in India

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Even those districts that were lagging behind in several parameters have come up and improved drastically. A breakthrough has been achieved and you will see great results in the future

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Like everyone thought that sport was restricted to a certain class of society, but we have extremely talented people in poor and backward regions. If we reach them, sport can go a long way in the country and results have showed that

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: Kids of Tier 2, Tier 3 cities and even of villages can be seen these days competing in the playground. So, I would like to say that if our work was evaluated then the question you asked shouldn’t have arisen

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: The politics of our country is such that till now, we have seen only one model in which governments are run to build the next government. My fundamental thinking is different. I believe we have to run the Government to build the nation

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: The tradition has been to run the government to make your party win but my purpose is to run the Government in a way to make our country win. And due to this basic concern, I take decisions based on Gandhiji’s talisman

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi: The things that people of India are entitled to, those benefits that they should have received decades ago, have still not reached them

@narendramodi PM @narendramodi talks about his journey from Gandhinagar to New Delhi, the challenges of governance, his vision for India in the world and much more in an interview with a leading magazine